The Return of the Kings and Queens
by happy-end
Summary: Susan and Peter return to Narnia when something dreadful happens on the Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Movieverse. Caspian/Susan. Peter/OC
1. Chapter 1: Drowning in Memories

_**Hey guys – this is my second fanfiction. I've published my fanfictions so far at on another website () but they've closed until further notice. So I've decided to get them up here as well. I've been working on this fanfiction for 3 months now and it's nearly finished – but I am going to add it chapter by chapter. English is only my second language – I hope I didn't make too many mistakes!! **_

_**I would really appreciate reviews!! They are the author's best friends. **_

_**And now enjoy reading! I hope you like it! **_

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"_I wish we had more time together." Caspian said in his wonderful Spanish accent, looking down at her astonishing blue eyes. _

"_It would never have worked anyway." Susan didn't know whom she wanted to comfort with this lie, him or herself. _

"_Why not?" he asked disappointed. _

"_I am 1300 years older than you!" she pointed out, smiling. _

_With this she walked towards her siblings but suddenly she turned around, ran to his arms and kissed him passionately. Slowly the world melted away from around them. _

_It seemed like an eternity until they broke apart, breathing heavily. Chocolate-brown eyes met blue ones. But he didn't want to let her go and so he hugged her and held her tight. _

_When she finally stepped away from him, she had a smile on her face. This moment, she swore to herself, she would never forget. _

And at this moment, the young woman woke up, as she always did, crying, asking herself if it wouldn't be better to forget about this memory, because no matter how wonderful it was, it always caused pain, pain about a lost love.

Everytime she heard somebody speaking with a Spanish accent, everytime she looked into somebody's dark brown eyes, she was reminded of him. Everytime she closed her eyes, she saw his face in front of her eyes, everytime she slept, she dreamed of their time together.

And everytime one of these things happened, she felt an unbearable pain in her heart, like someone was stabbing it.

And although she had sworn to herself that she would never forget him, as she would never forget Aslan or Narnia, she didn't know how much longer she could stand this pain. She didn't know if she could go on with her life, accepting the fact that she would never see him again, but thinking of him no matter where she was, what she did.

Susan took a deep breath and tried to calm down, so that she wouldn't wake up her parents, who were sleeping in the beds underneath her. She could hear her father's snoring and the waves bouncing against the ship. Knowing that she wouldn't be able to sleep again, she climbed down the bunk bed, put on her robe and left the small bunk.

As she opened the door to the deck, she was nearly thrown over by a powerful wind gust. She pulled her robe tighter and struggled through the wind to the railing. She stopped at the railing and looked over the sea. There was nothing but water as far as the eye can reach. The full moon lightened the high waves, which looked quite intimidating, but from time to time he was covered by the clouds, which travelled due to the storm fast through the sky.

Susan enjoyed the smell of the sea, the feeling of the wind in her hairs and the fine drops of saltwater that the wind blew up at her skin. These things reminded her of expeditions and adventures, she had experienced with her siblings during their reign in Narnia.

She was missing her siblings very much. She hadn't seen them for the whole summer due to the trip to America, she had made with her parents. Peter had been spending the summer studying for his exams with professor Kirke, while Lucy and Edmund stayed at their relatives, the Scrubbs, very to their dislike. Susan had to laugh, thinking about her younger siblings, having to spend the whole summer with their annoying cousin Eustace.

She was looking forward to seeing them again. Being away from them reminded her of Narnia as well. Susan had often stayed behind, looking after the throne, when the others had gone to war or visited other nations. But this time she was the one, who had gone on a journey, on an adventure, she was the one, who had spent the whole summer thus far away from her home.

Well, home ... to be honest, Finchley, England, didn't feel like home for her anymore. Even at the moments she spent with her family, with her siblings, something was missing. He was missing...

Suddenly a loud siren sounded behind Susan and within the next moment there was a chaos on deck. Seamen were running around, adjusting a rope here and there. People were storming out of the door from the lower deck, shouting, asking what had happened.

The voice of the men through the speaker nearly drowned in the crowd, "Dear passengers, we have reached shoal water and ask you to put on the life vest and stay on the lower deck. This is only a measure for safety, so we ask you to stay calm ..." Susan was still standing at the railing, shocked, not realising what had happened.

Suddenly there was a loud thud and the ship started to liberate first to the left and then to the right, so that the huge waves washed water over the railing.

Susan slipped on the wet floor and lost her balance. She tried to catch the railing with her hand but failed and fell in the sea. Between the screams of the people, she could hear somebody yelling "Man over board!" and then there was silence.

She felt how the icy water sucked her down, deeper and deeper to the ground of the sea.

She felt how the air left her lungs and for a short moment she considered not to fight against the tons of water, to give up, to die and to leave this world.

But then she saw the faces of her siblings in front of her and gathered all her strength. Paddling with feet and arms, it felt like she needed hours, till she finally reached the surface.

"Help!" she could barely scream before a huge wave dragged her down into the water once more. The next time she emerged from the sea she could spot the shape of the ship only some meters to her left and scream for help again. The next wave dragged her even deeper into the water, but suddenly she felt how somebody grabbed her arm and pulled her to the surface.

She felt how two strong arms pressed her against a muscular chest. She felt how these arms trailed her to the ship and how they laid her down gently on the ground. She felt wet lips on her own ones and how these lips filled her lung with air. She felt how the spirit of life flooded her body once more. And as she opened her eyes and looked into those wonderful chocolate brown ones, she felt how she lost her consciousness.

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Caspian was looking over the sea, watching the mighty huge waves, thinking about how dangerous water can be in its various forms.

Ice, no matter how brilliant it looks reflecting the sun, it is as hard and dangerous as stone.

Snow, no matter how wonderful and magical a landscape covered with snow looks, causes failing of the harvest and famine.

And waves, no matter how calm they are sometimes, those amounts of water can kill a person.

They had been looking for them for three days, searching the water and the nearby islands, but they hadn't found any sign. Caspian knew that it was hopeless.

Because of the mighty storm they had needed half an hour to turn the ship and return to the place where it had happened. They couldn't even exactly tell where this was. By the time they got there, those to be rescued may have been flushed miles away or they may have drowned already. They were injured and the high waves didn't give them much a chance to survive.

But Caspian couldn't stop searching, he couldn't give up. Those people meant so much, not only to him, but to whole Narnia. And it was his fault that they were lost...

"Your majesty, there is something in the water over there! Look!" Caspian suddenly heard a voice next to him.

When he located a person's hand emerging from the sea, he climbed over the railing and jumped into the sea without hesitation. Immediately he was where the person had appeared before, and dived into the sea. He got hold of a petit hand and dragged the person to the surface.

When he realized, who this person was, he was holding in his arms now, he felt his heart stop beating, asking himself if this was a dream. He trailed her to the ship, holding her tight he grabbed the rope his men had thrown down to him and together the king and the queen were reeled in the ship through the air.

Caspian laid her gently on the ground, noticing that she wasn't breathing.

"Oh, Aslan, please! Let her be ok! Don't let her be...!" he prayed towards the sky, not able to finish his last thought.

"She can't breathe, there is too much water in her lungs!" one of his men shouted from behind. Caspian hesitated shortly, then moved his hand to open her mouth and covered it with his and breathed into her to fill her lungs with air again.

When he pulled back, he noticed with relief that her chest was moving up and down. Then she opened her eyes, their gaze met and he was once more astonished by her sapphire blue eyes, he had dreamed of for more than three years now. The world around him melted apart, her being the only person he saw, their reunion he had dreamed of for such a long time.

The moment she closed her eyes once more and passed out, the spell was broken. Caspian tore away his eyes from her, moving one hand to his mouth, tracing the lips that had just touched hers for the second time with one finger.

"Caspian, what's going on? What happened?" he heard Lucy's voice behind him.

The young queen struggled through the crowd of men that had gathered around the royals.

When she caught sight of her sister a little smile crossed her face, the face that had been in despair and full of tears for the last days.

"Susan! What happened? Is she alright?" she kneeled down next to her sister, laying her hand on her forehead, "We've to change her clothes or she will freeze to death! You've to carry her to your quarters. She needs warmth! Come on!"

She looked at Caspian, who was just recovering from the shock of seeing her again. He was looking like he had seen a ghost. He hadn't thought that he would see her again in this world, not that he hadn't hoped or dreamed of it, but really experiencing this was something else.

"Caspian!" Lucy nearly shouted, awaking him from his thoughts.

The young king pulled himself together, like he had done a hundred times before when he had to lower his personal feelings for the greater good. He stood up and took her once more in his arms. Breathing in her wonderful scent and feeling her heart that close to his, he followed Lucy.

Caspian carried his love over the doorsill and laid her gently on his bed, like he would have done on their wedding day. He brushed a strand of hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear, resting his hand on her cheek. Then he stepped back and left the room, so that Lucy could change her sister's clothes.

Once outside he leaned against the wall, sinking slowly to the floor. He moved his hand to his head, messing up his hair frustrated. For such a long time he had been dreaming of their reunion and now that it had finally happened he wished she would have never come. After seeing her he felt even guiltier than before and this guilt was destroying him from the inside. How could he tell her what had happened, when he couldn't even admit it to himself. How could he look her in the eye after what had happened?

Caspian buried his head in his arms and cried. He hadn't been crying for a long time, not allowing himself to show any weakness as a king, but at this moment he was the lost boy in the woods once more, feeling how everything he had known was falling apart.

Suddenly he felt a petit hand on his shoulder and when he looked up the younger queen was standing next to him. "Caspian, it's not your fault!" she tried to comfort him.

And once more Caspian admired the strength of the youngest queen. After everything she had gone through in these last days, she was still trying to comfort everybody.

She was the one, who had the most right to grieve and to be angry about, how unfair the world could be. But also she had struggled in the last days, she hadn't lost her faith that everything will turn out right in the end.

He should be the one comforting her not the other way round. Immediately he was ashamed, wiped away his tears and stood up.

"How is she?" he asked, not able to speak her name out loud.

"She will be alright! She just needs warmth and rest! I should go back, so that she isn't alone when she wakes up. Caspian you have to change your clothes as well or you will catch a cold!" The young woman gave him a hug and disappeared in the room once more.

But Caspian didn't want to go in there again, at least not yet. Sooner or later he had to, but for now he needed to speak to the Captain to ensure that the search for the disappeared ones would continue, no matter how hopeless it was.

When he turned around and opened the wooden door to go on deck, a person, who he knew very well, was standing in front of him and Caspian asked himself silently if this could get any worse!

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_**Well what do you think? I hope the part where I switched from Susan to Caspian wasn't too confusing!! PLEASE leave me a review – only one sentence would make my day a thousand times better!! I'll update soon! **_


	2. Chapter 2: Remembering Old Times

_**So here it is – the second chapter! Thanks to those who reviewed so far – you're my heroes (or heroines ;)) ... and to those who haven't please do!! ;) .. **_

_**Enjoy reading. **_

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Peter went to the room with the wardrobe, whenever he could spare the time. Between the hours of cramming and learning he needed some time to forget about the upcoming exams and he couldn't think of a place, where he could better escape this world than the place, where they had first discovered the magical land. Well except for Narnia itself of course. But since that wasn't possible, he had to be satisfied with the place, where their fairy tale had begun.

He always had to laugh, when he thought of himself stretching out his hand to Mr. Beaver, making these weird noises to coax him to come nearer. He still got frightened when he thought of the white witch and of Edmund being under her thumb. He still felt overprotective, thinking of Susan's hundreds of suitors during their reign, now that she was that far away surely attracting hundred's of Yankees. He could still remember this feeling of happiness, when he was fooling around with Lucy in the garden's of Cair Paravel, when they were planting the apple orchard there.

And he remembered the feeling of frustration and anger, when they had stumbled back through the wardrobe to their dull life of earth, fifteen years younger than they used to be. After being a grown up king, in a land, where everyone had admired him (well he had been great after all!), it had been more than difficult to return to a life in which everyone just saw him as a child. After living half a lifetime in Narnia, they had come back so different, but nothing here had changed. He had been so angry at Aslan for sending them back, nearly losing his faith.

But at their second journey to Narnia he had learned an important thing. Going to Narnia had been a gift, an incredible one and he was beyond thankful that Aslan had chosen them to go there. He had been one of the few persons lucky enough to be able to experience life in two different worlds. The time in Narnia had been the best time of his life, and he was sure it will ever be, but he had accepted the fact that he had to live in his own world now.

However sitting there with closed eyes, remembering the adventures, celebration and wars, the good times and bad times in Narnia made him feel complete. Without those experiences he wouldn't be the same person. It was the time as a high king, the time when he had the responsibility for so many people, that had made him to the person he was.

And it was because of this that he wanted to be a medicine, he wanted to be able to help people, to better their lives, like he had done in Narnia.

Suddenly the moan of the wooden door of the wardrobe next to him awoke him from his thoughts. It had sprung open. Confused Peter looked around the room, but there was no sign of anyone, neither a mouse nor a human.

Then he stood up and opened the door completely, but instead of coats and winter jackets, he found an empty corridor with three wooden doors inside of the wardrobe.

Could this mean that...? No, this couldn't be possible. Aslan had told them that they weren't to return to Narnia. Maybe something had happened and his destiny had changed. Or maybe this was another parallel world. Maybe Aslan wanted to test him, to see if he can overcome the temptation. But in fact he had never promised not to go back, he had never said that he would miss a chance to go back; he had only accepted the fact that earth was his world to live in.

Peter took a deep breath and stepped into the wardrobe. Once in there he could feel the light rocking motion of a ship, which immediately reminded him of their expeditions on sea back in the golden age. Suddenly the door behind him closed. Maybe this hadn't been such a great idea after all. Maybe he shouldn't...

When he turned around the door he had come through, suddenly opened and a confused looking Caspian was standing in front of him.

"Caspian, man, it's good to see you again!" Peter said, giving the young king a pat on the back. Peter couldn't help but feeling happy. He was really back in Narnia.

Caspian just looked at him, seemingly speechless, so Peter continued, "So where are we? I hope still in Narnia? How are things progressing here?"

"Your Majesty..." Caspian stammered.

"Oh Caspian, skip the formality!" Peter said, obviously in a good mood. Well he was back in Narnia, wasn't he? He had every reason to be happy!

"So where are we now?" the high king repeated his question.

"We are sailing across the Great Eastern Ocean, far beyond the Lone Islands!" Caspian answered, his voice regaining its strength.

"And what or who are we searching for?" Peter asked enthusiastically.

"I've promised Aslan to find the Seven Lost Lords, who had been sent to explore the eastern seas by Miraz. We've already found two of them, Lord Bern, who has stayed on the Lone Islands as a governor and Lord Octesian, who was either killed by dragon or turned into a dragon and then died", Caspian informed his friend.

"Well, then I suppose I am here to help you. I can't understand why Aslan didn't send Lucy and Edmund... or are they here as well?" Peter asked, a bride smile on his face, thinking of seeing his siblings again.

"Well, theoretically they are here but..." Caspian said, stammering again.

"But...? But what? What happened?" Peter got worried. Had something happened to his siblings? Were they in danger or even already...? Was that the reason he was here?

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"Su, wake up!" Susan suddenly heard a voice, seeming far far away.

Slowly she opened her eyes, realising the shape of her brother, sitting next to her on the bed.

"Peter!" Susan exclaimed in delight, sitting up, hugging her brother, whom she hadn't seen for the whole summer. At the sudden movement she felt a twinge in her weak body and as she looked over Peter's shoulder and realised where she was and who else was in this room, she felt another sting, but this time it felt like someone was stabbing her heart.

Susan closed her eyes. So it hadn't been one of those stupid dreams, she had dreamed of a hundred times before. She was back; back, where she had longed to be, where she had left her heart. They, she and her siblings, were back; back, where they weren't supposed to be, back in Narnia.

She pulled back and looked straight into her older brother's face, noticing tears in his eyes.

"So, we are back!" It wasn't a question, but a statement. Her brother just nodded.

Suddenly the door was pushed open and Lucy stormed in, throwing her arms over her surprised sister, without saying a word. "Lucy, it's good to see you!" Susan whispered into her younger sister's ear.

When she felt Lucy's tears on her shoulders and heard her sobbing, she realised that there was something amiss. Susan looked into her sibling's swollen eyes, noticing that their tears weren't tears of happiness but of grief.

"What's going on? What has happened?" she asked, looking from Lucy, who looked like she hadn't slept in days, to Peter, who avoided her gaze, being at a loss for words.

"Where's Edmund?" she whispered, her voice nearly breaking down. Had something happened to him? Was that the reason they were here?

She searched the room, looking for the person that made their quartet complete. But the pair of brown eyes, her gaze met, weren't the one Susan was looking for, although she had dreamed of these eyes for three months.

Her blue eyes were stuck on Caspian, not able to tear them away from him. His expression told her everything and she knew that something dreadful had happened. In his gaze she saw love, care and grief, but most of all she saw guilt. She saw how this guilt was tearing him apart from the inside and this guilt made him breaking the ban, looking down to the ground, not able to stand her gaze anymore.

"Edmund is ..." Peter found his voice again, although it was still quite shaky, "Edmund is lost!"

"What do you mean lost?" Susan asked, tearing her eyes away from Caspian, looking at Peter again.

"Ask him!" Peter said bitterly, his voice now full of anger, reminding Susan of the situation three months ago at Aslan's How. But this time Caspian didn't argue back, keeping his gaze to the ground.

"It wasn't his fault, Peter!" Lucy defended Caspian, "It wasn't anybody's! It just happened! We all feel desperate and helpless, but accusing each other, won't help Edmund, won't bring him back. Fate decides everything, everything that happens has its reasons; Aslan has his reasons for ..."

"How can you still have faith in Aslan? He let this happen, he didn't prevent it!" Peter shouted in anger, "After everything we've done for him...!"

"How can you not have faith in him, after everything he had done for us?" Lucy stood up for Aslan, as she always did, her faith in him indestructible, "He showed us our strengths and our weaknesses, he learned us how important it is too stick together! Aslan brought us here to Narnia, without him we wouldn't have come here and..."

"And Edmund would be safe!" Peter concluded.

Then there was an awkward silence, nobody dared to say anything. Susan was shocked, shocked about what she had just found out, still not knowing what exactly had happened; and shocked about the way Peter was acting.

She had known him all her life, she had experienced him in wars, in battles about life and death, but she had never seen him like this. The way he yelled at Lucy, the expression in his eyes, it frightened her, although Susan knew why he acted that way. Edmund meant so much to Peter, he meant much to all of them.

"Please, can just somebody tell me, what has happened?" Susan asked, not knowing if she actually wanted to hear this.

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_**So what do you think? Tell me your thoughts in a review! Please!! :)**_

_**Oh yeah and I have decided to add my first fanfiction as well – it's called Susan's tale! Check it out! **_

_**Hope you enjoyed reading! Have a nice day :D **_


	3. Chapter 3: Your Fate is Sealed

_**Well don't really have anything to say :) .. hope you liked it so far! Enjoyed reading! ... **_

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_Lucy was pressed backwards into the door of the cabin on the upper deck. Caspian had pushed her out of harm's way. _

"_Lucy, get inside!" he screamed, already fending off the next attacker. Lucy searched the upper deck. There were about thirty pirates attacking the ship. Lucy knew that the crew had already put a much larger group to flight at the beginning of the journey, but this time they'd been completely unprepared. They were that far away from any civilization, that near to the world's end, that they hadn't expected a pirates' attack. _

_Kicking one of the pirates into the sea, Caspian turned around, facing Lucy again, "Lucy! Please, get inside! It's too dangerous out here..." _

"_Caspian, watch out!" Lucy suddenly heard Edmund's voice from some feet away. Her younger brother was running towards them, pointing at a long haired pirate, who had trained his crossbow at Caspian, releasing his arrow. _

_Suddenly everything moved more slowly. Caspian turned around and caught sight of the arrow, but instead of sidestepping he built himself up in front of Lucy to cover her. Then there was suddenly Edmund, throwing himself in front of them. Before Lucy realised what had just happened, the arrow hit her brother's chest. _

"_Edmund!!!" Lucy screamed, watching her brother's body hitting the railing. _

"Lucy, wake up! You're dreaming! Wake up!" Lucy heard her brother's voice next to her.

Lucy opened her eyes and caught sight of her brother, who was sitting next to her on the bed. But it wasn't the brother she wished to see, it wasn't the brother that had been missing for more than three days now.

It weren't Peter's eyes Lucy wanted to look into, it wasn't his voice she wanted to hear comforting her, it wasn't his presence she wished for more than anything else, although she was more than happy that he was here. Crying Lucy fell into Peter's arms, burying her face in his chest.

"Shh, it's okay! Everything will be fine!" Peter tried to calm down his younger sister, caressing gently her back.

As Lucy looked up, she caught glimpse of Edmund's bed. It was still unmade and crumpled like he had just jumped out of it. Everytime she saw his bed she felt a twinge in her belly. Everytime she talked to somebody, she thought of the bold answer Edmund would have given. Everytime she closed her eyes, she saw his body falling over the railing into the sea, the arrow still stuck in his chest.

"It's my fault... it's my fault that that arrow hit him, it's my fault that he fell into that sea... it's my fault that they aren't here!", Lucy stammered in despair, tears running down her cheeks, "If I hadn't hesitated going under deck, Caspian wouldn't have needed to shield me and Edmund wouldn't have thrown him in front of us and wouldn't have fallen into the sea...

Peter grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to look into his eyes, "And if we had never been sent to Narnia, if those pirates hadn't attacked the boat, if Caspian had fought of that pirate...

"You can't blame Caspian, he just wanted to..." Lucy opposed.

"I am not blaming him. Well at least not anymore, I know that I've been unfair towards him. What I wanted to say is that we can't know what would have happened. Maybe Edmund would have fallen into the sea fighting another pirate. Your fate is sealed. We cannot do anything about it. You told us that everything that happens has its reasons, that Aslan has his reasons for everything. I am sorry that I haven't had trust in Aslan from the beginning, like you always have had, but I was so full of rage and despair..." Peter's voice broke down; he looked down, to hide the tears in his eyes.

"That's human, Peter!" Lucy remarked.

"No, I should be better like that!" Peter said bitterly, shaking his head.

"Everyone struggles, but not everyone has the strength to overcome those struggles. You haven't lost your faith in Aslan and that's all that count!" Lucy told him, the wisdom of a far older person reflecting in her eyes.

Peter looked up, his gaze meeting Lucy's eyes. For a moment there was silence, the siblings just looking into each other's eyes, knowing exactly how the other one felt. They had both lost two family members, although they weren't gone for good, they didn't know, where and how they were. And this uncertainty was even worse.

Then Peter smiled, "I still can't believe that Eustace jumped after Edmund? Is this really the same person we are talking about?" He joked trying to make her smile.

But his comment hadn't the desired effect. Lucy looked even sadder, "Well he had changed after Aslan had talked to him, like we had, when we had been here first. I really liked the new Eustace; you know he is really..." Lucy sobbed, "...I hope he is okay! I hope they both are!"

"I am sure that they are!" Peter said, hugging his little sister once more.

Suddenly there was a loud noise, that sounded like a bugle but richer. Lucy and Peter looked at each other shocked, exactly knowing, where that sound came from and what it meant.

It meant trouble.

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She was even more beautiful than Caspian had remembered her. And he wouldn't have thought that possible. Even now that she was wearing men's clothes, which was disturbing for him by the way, she still looked breathtakingly beautiful.

Her dark hair, as black as ebony, was flying in the wind, her pale skin was as white as ivory and her wonderful full lips were as red as blood in the cold of the night. Those wonderful lips, he had touched before for the second time. He closed his eyes, remembering the wonderful feeling of her soft lips on his, her wonderful scent, he had smelled, when he had been that near to her.

Now Caspian was watching her from some distance, not knowing if he should approach her. What should he tell her? Did she even want to talk to him? Maybe he was the last person in the world she wanted to see. Was she angry at him? He knew it was his fault that Edmund and Eustace were lost. Edmund had thrown himself in harm's way to protect him. He should have prevented that. It was his fault and he could barely live with this guilt.

For so long Caspian had wished to see Susan again, he had dreamed of their reunion. But he had never imagined it like that.

Moreover he didn't know her feelings towards him at all. She had kissed him before she had left Narnia but she had also told him that their relationship would have never worked anyway. Maybe her feelings weren't like his, maybe the kiss had just been a spontaneous act, just a damn-it-I-am-never-going-to-see-him-again-kiss. Maybe she hadn't enjoyed the kiss, like he had. Maybe she had already forgotten him, maybe found somebody else to love in her world.

Caspian could feel a twinge in his heart at that thought. Although he wanted her to be happy, he couldn't imagined her being happy with anybody else but him. He knew that that was selfish and he was ashamed of having that thought, but he couldn't help it.

He could tell, from the way she folded her arms that she was cold. He wanted to go over to her, take her in his arms and warm her. He wanted to tell her, how much he loved her, how much he had missed her and that he never wanted her to leave again, but there were so many things that kept him from doing this, not only that she may be angry at him, not only his guilt about what had happened, also the fear that she might return to her own world, but most of all the fear that she might not feel the same way.

But he couldn't also just turn around and walk away. Firstly because he wasn't able to tear his eyes away from her. Secondly because he needed to talk to her. Although he couldn't tell her how much he loved her, he could tell her how sorry he was for what had happened that he would fix this, that he would bring them back, no matter what it would cost.

He took some steps towards her, the wooden floor moaning beneath him. She had to have already noticed him, but she didn't turn around. He opened his mouth, but then shut it again, not knowing how to begin.

"Why am I here?" Susan suddenly whispered into the air without turning around.

Caspian was that taken aback by this simple question that he didn't know what to answer. He didn't even know if this question was directed at him.

"How could he do this to us? How could he let this happen?" Susan continued and although Caspian knew exactly, who and what she meant, he didn't have an answer down pat. He silently laid one hand on her shoulder, to show her that he was here for her. Susan winced at his touch, but didn't elude him.

"Why does he do this to me? Taking me back, where I am not supposed to be, reminding me of a life I know I cannot have..." Finally she turned around, facing Caspian. Their gaze met and Caspian felt another twinge in his heart.

Her sapphire blue eyes were that full of sadness and grief that he couldn't stand looking into them. Seeing her anguished, filled with sorrow, lacerated his heart. And he didn't know how to comfort her. He still didn't know what to say.

So he followed his instincts, although he knew that it wasn't right. His mind told him not to, but his heart told him something else. It just felt so right, being near her. He couldn't resist the temptation, so he closed the distance between them, placed one hand on her cheek, gently wiping away her tears. As she didn't back off, he leaned in to kiss her.

And when their lips were only centimetres apart and Caspian could already feel her breath on his skin, there was suddenly a loud noise.

Susan flinched and pulled back, looking at Caspian in shock. The young king wasn't less shocked about what he had just heard, but still the thought, why she looked that way, crossed his mind. Was it because of their almost-kiss or was it because of the noise, they both knew meant trouble?

"That's my horn!" was all that Susan managed to say.

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_**Yeah that was it!! :) What did you think? Hope you like it!! :).... Sorry that it's again a shorter chapter! ...  
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_**Reviews would be great as always :)**_


	4. Chapter 4: Blood is thicker than Water

**_Enjoy Reading! :) _**

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"So you left the horn with Trumpkin at Cair Paravel?" Peter repeated, what Caspian had just told them, to be sure that he had understood it right.

"Yes, he acts as my regent, while I am away and I gave the horn to him to use if any great need fell on the land in my absence!" Caspian explained further.

"And Trumpkin wouldn't blow the horn, if it wasn't something extremely important, would he?" Peter asked, knowing the answer exactly.

"Peter, you know him, he would never do such a thing!" Lucy pre-empted Caspian, her voice sounding reproachfully, that he even had that thought.

Peter nodded and started pacing the room, not knowing what to say.

Then Caspian piped up, clearly hesitating, "We have to get back to Narnia! The people need us, they are in danger!" And although his voice was steady, one could see that he was in a conflict. Well he was the current king of Narnia and so his first obligation were his people. But he couldn't look at Susan, still feeling guilty about what had happened to her family members, knowing that coming to the aid of his people, meant letting down her family.

"But what about Edmund and Eustace?" Lucy asked the question, that all of them had in their minds.

"Yeah, Peter! What about Edmund and Eustace?" Susan nearly shouted in anger about everything that was just happening, "They are out there somewhere, bleeding or freezing to death! We don't even know if they are still alive but stop searching for them would mean their death, you know that!"

"Of course, I know that, Susan!" Peter yelled at her, losing his temper, asking himself if this could get any worse. He knew that this was his decision, not only because he was (had been) the high king of Narnia, but also because he was the oldest in the family and he had always been the one, deciding what was best for them, but now. He knew that whatever he would decide, they would follow him, with lots of protest of course.

Nearly every great leader had to make this decision once, the decision between rescuing his people or his family, deciding between the greater good and the people that you love. He had always thought that the answer was clear. As a king you need to put your own needs behind, need to make sacrifices. But was that sacrifice worth it?

Peter knew that there was only one right answer, the loss of so many against the loss of two.

And in his mind he had already made the decision, but his heart was fighting, fighting for his little brother, fighting for his cousin, fighting for the welfare of his family.

He had always loved to be a high king, to be able to make his own decisions, to be able to change something, but right now he wished back his easy life in England, where he had just been one out of thousands, his decisions only affecting himself and his family.

But maybe this was because Aslan had sent him back; maybe this was a lesson he needed to learn. What would Aslan want him to do? He knew the answer, but was afraid to speak it out loud, knowing that whatever he decided had terrible consequences.

He looked around the room, in which there was a depressing silence, looking in each face. Lucy had already tears in her eyes and Peter knew that she would understand his decision; she would have faith in him as she had in Aslan, knowing that the sound of the horn was a sign for them from Aslan.

Caspian was looking at him hopefully, fearing for his own people, but there was an expression in his eyes that told Peter that also for Caspian, the decision hadn't been an easy one to make.

Then he looked at Susan, recognizing not only anger in her eyes, but also hurt, fear and vulnerability. He knew how much it had cost her to live on her life in England, how difficult it had been for her to leave Narnia. He knew about her feelings towards Caspian and how torturing this was for her. And he knew that she would be angry with him because in her eyes he was taking sides with Caspian, in her eyes he was letting down his family and to her, after everything she had lost, they had lost, family was the most important thing, well the only thing that had left for her really. But he knew that one day she would understand his decision.

Then he thought of Edmund, asking himself what decision his little brother would make. Wasn't letting Edmund down a betrayal to his family, like the betrayal Edmund had done, helping the white witch? Peter knew that this was the most awful thing one could do. But on the other side Aslan had called him King Edmund, The Just, and Peter knew that there was _just one just_ answer.

"We are sailing back to Narnia! Our people need us!" Peter finally spoke out the decision, he had made a long time ago in his head.

Caspian just nodded pitiful, knowing how hard this decision had been, Lucy buried her head in the pillow next to her on the bed and started crying and Susan looked like she would explode any minute.

"Edmund needs us too, Peter! And Eustace! How can you sacrifice them? Blood is thicker than water! How can you let them die?" Susan screamed, tears of grief and frustration running down her cheeks.

"Do you think that this is easy for me? I know perfectly what this decision means! But Edmund would do the same if he was in my place. As a king your first responsibility is your people and your country. And I swear the day Narnia is safe again, I come back here and find Edmund and Eustace, even if I have to go to the end of the world, even if I have to go to Aslan's country and beg him on knees, I swear I will bring them back!" Peter yelled, making the walls trembling.

Susan stood up, building herself up in front of Peter, "And as a brother your first responsibility should be your family!" And with this she stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

* * *

Susan hated ships and boats. There were too little places to hide, too little places to be alone, especially now that they were sailing day and night to get back to Narnia as fast as possible, there was no time that everybody was sleeping and that silence fell on the Dawn Treader.

And being alone was what Susan needed now. She boiled with rage. For the moment she was sitting on the floor in a tiny broom closet, it was quite uncomfortable but that didn't matter to her. She had gone through so worse things than a hard ground and some splinters in her skin.

She needed to be alone till she had calmed down, although she wasn't quite sure if that would ever happen! She was angry with everybody, even with Edmund and Eustace!

After all they were the reason that she was back in Narnia. How dared they falling, jumping or whatever into the sea and getting lost?

And Lucy was so blind. Her indestructible pain in Aslan made Susan fret and fume. How could she still have faith in him after he let this happen?

And then there was Peter... How dared he...? He let Edmund down; he let the whole family down. But worst of all he took sides with Caspian. He knew how she felt about him and how much it had cost her to live her life on in England. Peter had never liked Caspian that much himself and now back in Narnia he fraternized with him.

And Caspian, why did he always have to be the hero? Rescuing her from the water, she would have preferred drowning in it to going through this hell again! Would she? She remembered the wonderful feeling when he carried her in his arms, when their lips touched...

No, she couldn't let this happen anymore. She just couldn't. She wouldn't stand losing her heart once more. She wouldn't stand leaving him once more.

And Aslan, well, where to begin? He was juggling their lives like balls, sending them from one world to the other without taking notice of their feelings and wishes, changing his mind all the time. One day he was telling them they were never to come back and the next day he thought otherwise. Oh, but he was the Great Aslan, he had his reasons for everything, bla bla bla!

Nobody had the right to decide about her life but herself and she hadn't wanted to come back, had she? Well, she had dreamed about coming back, about living her life in Narnia, but not like this, not with the price of her brother's death, not with the insecurity of not knowing what to do and why exactly they were here, not with the constant fear that she may have to return the next day. That was just not fair.

And now they were supposed to come to Narnia's rescue again, after everything they had already done for Narnia, after everything they had already sacrificed for Narnia, Aslan expected them to sacrifice their brother's and their cousin's life. How could he?

And he didn't even appear to them, telling them what he wanted them to do. He just expected them to do the right thing. In the time of struggle he wasn't there for them...

Suddenly Susan's thought were interrupted, when the door of the broom closet flied open and Lucy was standing in front of her.

"Susan, here you are! We've been looking for you everywhere!" Lucy said reproachfully. "What are you doing in a broom closet?"

"I need some time on my own!" Susan hissed, looking angrily at her younger sister.

But as she caught glimpse of Lucy's sad face and her tear-stained eyes, Susan immediately regretted her harsh words. Maybe she had been a bit too selfish, it was a hard time for all of them and everybody had his own ways to deal with it. "Look, I am sorry! I didn't mean to be mean to you. It's just..."

"I know it's hard for you to be back... but you know how hard this decision has been for Peter! So, please, don't be angry at him! Go and talk to him! You know he did the right thing!" Lucy said, hugging her sister, who was still sitting on the ground and then leaving her again with her thoughts, not having anything else to say.

For a while Susan just starred through the door that Lucy had kept open, in the hallway. Maybe she should really talk to Peter. She wouldn't apologize, no, she hadn't done anything wrong and she still thought that they should have stayed, searching for Edmund and Eustace but she could tell him that she wasn't angry at him.

So she searched for Peter, finding him in one of the chambers, studying maps and plans with Caspian.

"Your Majesty!" the young king immediately bowed, when he saw her stepping into the room. Susan frowned at his sight. Peter just nodded his head, not knowing if she was still angry or not, deciding it was best to act normal.

"Can you leave us alone for a moment, please?" she asked in a harsh voice Caspian, who owed again and left the room immediately, seeming more than glad to be able to leave.

As Peter was just looking at her expectantly, Susan began to speak. "I just wanted to tell you that I am not angry at you anymore. You made the decision that you think is right and I have to live with that!"

"I know it looked like I am taking sides with Caspian and I know that that hurt you! I am sorry for that but I couldn't help it! I love you, Su! I would never hurt you on purpose!" Peter had approached Susan and had laid one hand on her shoulder. As she didn't made any attempts to speak he continued, "I know how hard this is for you! I know that you would rather like to be in England than here... and you have every right to be angry because of that! But please Susan, I need you to do something, not for me but for yourself! You have to forgive Aslan!"

"I am sorry, Peter, but that is something you can't expect from me. That's just something I can't do!" Susan shook her head, tiptoed to give her brother a kiss on the cheek and left the room.

Peter looked after his sister thoughtfully and murmured, "Then let's hope that He will forgive you in the end!"

* * *

_**Well what do you think? I hope it wasn't boring and I hope Susan isn't getting too unsympathetic! **_

_**Well reviews would be great as always - thanks to those who reviewed so far! You're simply the best!! :) **_


	5. Chapter 5: Long Lives the King

_**Enjoy reading :) ... **_

* * *

They sailed for ten days, upwind and downwind, day and night. Luckily there weren't any more attacks or complications. The topics of their rare conversation were restricted to the danger that had befallen Narnia. They had many guesses from famine to a war with the giants till the return of the white witch but they couldn't tell anything for sure.

Since the sound of the horn they hadn't got any other sign from the Narnians, no homers or eagles or any other creature had brought them news. This trembling uncertainty was the worst. They couldn't wait to fight.

Even Susan, who was still angry about being in Narnia, was looking forward to sureness, looking forward to arriving at Cair Paravel to know, why she had been sent her. She wanted to fight that danger off as quickly as possible, so that they could search for Edmund and Eustace as soon as possible and so that she could return to England as soon as possible.

Everytime Susan met Caspian, she felt herself getting weaker. Everytime she looked into his wonderful brown eyes, she felt how her knees turned into jelly. She was very intent on not touching him, but from time to time, when they met in the small hallway for example, she couldn't avoid it. And when she touched his body, she could feel how he tensed every muscle. Then he was looking at her with so much longing and desire, that Susan would have liked most to run into his arms. But she couldn't let this happen anymore.

Those moments were awkward moments of silence. They never talked to each other, beside the necessary, but when their gazes met, their eyes told each other everything they needed to know.

Susan's wonderful sapphire blue eyes told Caspian how hurt she still was and so he didn't make any more advances, although his heart longed to be near her, to touch her, to hold her in his arms and to kiss her. The meetings with her were torturing.

He was also looking forward to arriving at Cair Paravel, not only because of the danger that had befallen his country but also because on land he wouldn't meet Susan that often.

So in the morning of the tenth day after they had decided to sail back to Narnia, they were able to make out the towers of Cair Paravel and by midday they arrived at the harbour.

There they were taken aback by what they saw.

The whole city crowded along the street leading to the harbour, celebrating their king's return.

Normally that wouldn't have been that stunning, but the kings and queens had expected sorrow and danger. What had happened? Why had Trumpkin blown the horn?

The kings and queens abandoned the ship and were welcomed by Trumpkin, Glenstorm and several Telmarine lords. The Narnians looked surprised but happy that the kings and queens of old were there as well, while one couldn't quite read the expressions on the Telmarine's faces.

"DLF!" Lucy shouted, running into the arms of the dwarf, who had a bride smile on his face, happy about seeing his old friends again.

"Welcome home, dear kings and queens! But where is King Edmund?" Trumpkin asked, noticing the young king's absence.

"That's a longer story! What has happened here? Why have you blown the horn?" Caspian worried.

"That's also a longer story to tell and here's not the place for it! Let's head to the castle!" Trumpkin said, keeping the kings and queens in suspense.

They mounted their horses and rode at the head of the procession towards the castle, waving to their jubilant subjects. All of them knew how to put on a public facade, having ridden many parades, partly with terrible headaches, hurting wounds or sorrows.

Moreover the king and the queens of old were stunned by the beauty of Cair Paravel. Caspian had told them that he had rebuilt it to its old glory and they had been looking forward to returning to their old home, the place, from where they had so many happy memories, where they had grown up.

It wasn't exactly the same as in old days, but from what they saw at first sight Caspian and his men had done a pretty good job, guessing its look and structure from old records and the remains.

When they reached the courtyard of Cair Paravel and grooms came to take the horses.

"Please prepare the rooms for the king and the queens!" Trumpkin ordered a young maid and then he turned to the kings and queens, "There will be a ceremony, where I officially give over the throne to Caspian again, you can prepare yourself in your rooms, everything is arranged, but I guess you want to know what has happened first?"

"Yes, immediately!" Peter, who had been awkwardly quiet so far, said.

"Then follow me!" Trumpkin leaded them into the castle, through the hallways, to, what Susan supposed to be his studies.

There he asked them to sit down, while he started pacing the room, not knowing how to begin, "Well you know, we've thought about blowing or not blowing the horn for a long time and in the end we've decided that the danger of a war is too big and so..."

"First of all, who are we? Who knows from the danger?" Caspian inquired.

"We are the Professor, Glenstorm, the Telmarine Court and my humble self. We've tried to keep it a secret for we didn't want to worry the people, so there are only a few others, who know about it." Trumpkin informed them.

"And what is IT?" Peter couldn't hold back anymore. He needed to know, needed to know for what he let his brother down, for what he let his family down.

"The Calormenes have invaded Archenland and we think they want to invade Narnia as well!"

* * *

"That's it?" was Susan's first thought. That's why they sailed day and night? That's why they left Edmund and Eustace to their certain death? Because somebody might invade Narnia somewhere along the way, maybe tomorrow, maybe in a week or maybe next year?

If the others had that thought as well, they didn't speak it out loud or acted like it. Peter was the first one to speak, "We have to safeguard our boundaries, make sure that the people near Archenland are protected! Who is the current king of Archenland? Do you have any alliances with him?"

"The current king is King Nain. I've only once met him, when he visited Cair Paravel after my coronation. Since then we've had constant correspondence. We've only a spoken pact that our countries live in peace next to each other!" Caspian informed the others, messing up his hair frustrated, not knowing what to do next.

"Do you have any pacts with Calormen?" Peter asked. Caspian just shook his head.

"Have there been any attacks on Narnia so far?" Caspian asked his regent.

"Not that I know!" Trumpkin told them.

"We've to gather our forces and we've to make ourselves a picture of the situation!" Caspian continued, "If there are any Calormen forces stationed near the border, if they've already attacked any Narnians..."

"I can do this! I take some soldiers and inspect the boundaries at once!" Peter lent himself.

"Wait! Don't you two think you are rushing things?" Susan interrupted them, "We know far too few things to ride off to war. We know that the Calormen have invaded Archenland, but we don't know if they had any reasons for that..."

"Reasons? Susan, you know why they did this! The Calormen have always wanted to get the power over Archenland and Narnia! Especially you should know what they are like!" Peter shook his head.

"That has been thirteen hundred years ago! Peter you can't judge a nation because of what happened such a long time ago! We don't know if they've changed!" Susan pointed out.

"I also think we shouldn't rush it!" Lucy piped up, stepping between her siblings, "Riding to war would only cause unnecessary bloodshed! We should rather enter into negotiations with Calormen!"

"Well, it's Caspian's decision, isn't it?" Peter said triumphantly and they all looked towards Caspian, whose face turned dark red.

Caspian knew that they all had much more experiences in those things than he had despite their younger age. Well they had reigned over Narnia for more than fifteen years. They all had a point in what they had said and he didn't want to get in a fight with either of them.

He enjoyed the way he was getting along with Peter since he had returned to Narnia and he didn't want to put that on stake. Moreover it had also been his first thought to fight!

But Lucy and Susan also had a point he had to listen to. Besides Susan was the last person he wanted to fight with and she was already looking at him angry.

However, what was most important was the welfare of his people! "I think we should try to avoid bloodshed and try to come to terms with the Calormen. Nevertheless we should gather our forces and make ready for war. I don't want to fight but to protect the innocent, I will not be afraid to use my sword!"

Caspian looked at the King and Queens of Old, afraid of their reaction but all of them, even Susan smiled, nodding their heads appreciatorily.

"Well said, but first of all you have a throne to receive! And a story to tell! How has your journey been? And where's King Edmund?" Trumpkin inquired.

* * *

Caspian took a deep breath. He was standing in front of the big wooden doors leading to the Great Hall. Half of Narnia was gathered in there, as well as the King and Queens of Old.

Within the next minutes this door would open and every eye in there would be focused on him.

During the ceremony he would receive back the crown but that was the pleasant part of it. Later he would have to explain to his people why the Kings and Queens of Old were back in Narnia, and why one of them was missing. It had already been hard to explain it to Trumpkin, who was his friend, but to explain it to the people, for whom King Edmund had been kind of a saint, a hero, was worse, especially because deep in his heart Caspian knew that it was his fault, that he wasn't with them.

How would they react? He could only hope that it wouldn't arouse a fight between the Telmarine people and the Narnians. The relationship between those two races had been very tense for a long time and a civil war was the last thing they needed!

The doors opened and Caspian walked in, trying to look as regal as possible. Clarions were playing and the centaurs were saluting with their swords on both sides of the aisle.

At the far end of the hall, just before the great glass windows, there stood the four white marble thrones, just as in the days of old. The King and Queens of Old were standing in front of them, all clothed in Aslan's colours. Caspian's gaze got stuck on the throne on Peter's right that had remained empty.

When he averted his eyes from the empty throne his gaze fell on the gentle queen. She looked breathtakingly lovely in the red dress that left her shoulders bare and ran out into full skirts. Her hair was mostly loose, held back only by a tiny golden crown. But her eyes weren't matching with the rest of her appearance. They weren't shining, but looking sad and tired, revealing the grief she had gone through.

He reached his own throne that was centred and one dais lower than the four white marble thrones. To its left and right the Telmarine lords had gathered, while Trumpkin was standing in front of it, holding Caspian's crown in his hands.

Caspian knelt down before the dwarf, tilting his head respectfully. Trumpkin placed the crown on Caspian's head, stepped aside and bowed to the king, who turned to his people.

"When I was crowned King of Narnia I swore an oath to personally search for the Seven Lost Lords that my uncle Miraz had sent to explore the Great Eastern Ocean. This journey was supposed to take a year and a day! The Great Aslan sent the Kings and Queens of Old to help me! Unfortunately things, dreadful things, I couldn't avoid, happened! During an attack by pirates King Edmund and another friend of Narnia went overboard and got lost! I am..."

A murmur went through the crowd and Caspian raised one arm to silence them, "I am sorry to say that we haven't found them yet..."

"Then why have you returned to Cair Paravel yet? Why have you stopped the search?" one of the wolves howled, the Narnians nodding in agreement.

"It was me, who decided to stop the search and return here!" Caspian suddenly heard Peter's voice and he turned around giving Peter a grateful smile. The muttering of the crowd got louder.

"We got alarming news from Cair Paravel and decided together to return here! We will however continue the search after everything is settled here!" Caspian continued, "I don't want to disturb you, but the Calormen people have invaded Archenland and the war clouds are gathering. I will try everything to avoid a war but we may have to fight!"

At these words the crowd went wild. There were outcries, the people started discussing with their neighbours and it took several minutes until Caspian was able to carry on, "In times like this, it is most important that we stand together! No matter Telmarine or talking beasts, we are all Narnians, we are one nation and together we are strong!"

This time it was Lucy, who came to his help, shouting "Long lives the King!" and to Caspian's surprise the crowd joined her.

* * *

_**So that's it ... what do you say? .. the thing with the Calormen - pretty cliched, eh? :) ... **_

_**Well I hope you liked it! I know it wasn't that suspenseful or romantic or whatever again .. but it's going to be better promise!! Or at least I like the next chapters better than this one .. but you'll see! .. **_

_**I'll try to update soon - but I have two huge huge huge exams next week - so I don't know if I'll have time, but I'll try! .. **_

_**And reviews would be great as always!! .. Thanks again to those who reviewed so far - you guys are great!!!! :D ... **_


	6. Chapter 6: The Fighting before the War

_**I would like to dedicate this chapter to **_**pevensiePOTTER**_**. Thank you sooooooooo much for your reviews, your constructive criticism and especially for the banner! I was so touched that my work inspired you :) ...Thanks again! I hope you like it! **_

_**Enjoy reading!**_

* * *

The news of an imminent war spread like wildfire through the whole country. The population was in an uproar and by the next morning hundreds of humans and talking beasts had come to Cair Paravel seeking shelter.

Peter had ridden to the boundaries to Archenland with a few soldiers to inspect the situation there, but not before promising to Susan that he wouldn't start a fight and that he would keep out of harm's way.

In the meanwhile Caspian was discussing the current situation with the Telmarine council.

"And so High King Peter, Queen Susan, Queen Lucy and I have decided to send a messenger to Anvard to offer negotiations to the Calormen." Caspian informed the council.

"Why risking a war? The Calormen haven't attacked Narnia so far. Archenland regards nothing to us. We owe nothing to them!" one of the Telmarine lords, Lord Delian exclaimed, standing up from his seat.

"We are trying to avoid a war but maybe we will have to fight. Sometimes war is inevitable! Archenland has always been friendly towards Narnia and if they ask for our help against the Calormen, Narnia will answer!" Caspian answered, trying to stay calm.

"I ask myself if this decision is influenced by the former close alliance between the kings and queens of Old and Archenland. I ask myself who is ruling Narnia at the moment. Is it King Caspian or the king and queens of Old?" Lord Delian pointed out, the Lords to his left and his right nodding in agreement.

Caspian was seething in rage, not only had that man doubt his credibility, he had also spoken ill of his friends, when they weren't there to defend themselves. He rose from his throne, making himself ready to defend the Pevensies, but he never had the chance to let his temper out.

"You doubt your king's decision?" rang Susan's voice clearly from the doors.

"I doubt that it was the king's decision, your Majesty!" Lord Delian said, bowing to the queen, adding those last two words sneeringly.

"And what are your reasons for thinking that?" Susan asked calmly, walking into the room.

"We all know your Majesty's influence on our king. May I remind your Majesty that your Majesty is not a sovereign queen?" Lord Delian said impudently.

"And may I remind you, Lord Delian, that the Telmarine Council only has a consultant function and not an executive power?" Susan answered, her body filling with anger, but as a queen of Narnia she had learned to control that anger, at least so far. Addressing to the whole council she continued, "My siblings and I came to support Caspian, to help with words and deeds, not to cause trouble."

"Of that I have no doubt! But whom are you helping? All of Narnia or only the Narnians?" Lord Delian asked, his followers again nodding in agreement.

It was now that Caspian intervened, not only because Lord Delian was behaving impudent, but also because he could tell that Susan wouldn't keep her temper any longer and he didn't want her to get in a fight with the council, not wanting her to make herself any more enemies.

"Guard your tongue! I will not tolerate any insults towards her Majesty." Caspian warned the Lord.

"Thank you, Caspian, but I am perfectly capable of defending myself on my own." Susan said without turning her angry face towards Caspian, focusing on Lord Delian. With a trembling voice she continued, "We are all Narnians, no matter Telmarine or Old Narnian! If you can't accept that, you should have left with the others through the portal!"

"Well you and your siblings left through the portal and where are you now?" Lord Delian answered back.

"Aslan sent us back to help you..."

"Help us like you helped your brother?"

"Enough!" Caspian shouted, but it was already too late.

In a blind fury Susan moved towards Lord Delian, attacking him with bare hands, "Don't you dare mentioning my brother!" She would have strangled him, if Caspian hadn't restrained her from doing that.

Now Caspian was holding her in his arms, her whole body shaking, tears running down her cheeks. Caspian's insides tore at the sight of the young woman so hurt and he couldn't believe he had let this gone that far.

He waved one of the soldiers at the door, "Will you please escort Queen Susan to her chambers?"

Susan's head snapped back in surprise at his words and she backed away from his grasp so quickly it was as if she had been burned.

"You are sending me away? After what he just said, you are sending me away?" she asked with plain hurt in her eyes.

"Susan, please..." Caspian laid one hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down, but Susan withdrew from his touch, shot an angry glare at him, turned around and flounced out of the room.

Caspian's heart tore apart, when he watched her leaving, knowing that he had just hurt her even more. It was never his intention to hurt her, but he couldn't help it. He couldn't let this fight develop any further.

Without turning to face the lord, he said, "You crossed the lines today, Lord Delian. I will forgive you this time but trust me I will not be that kind if I see you talking to her Majesty like that once more! The council is dismissed for today!"

The members of the council left the room until only Caspian and Lord Delian remained. The Telmarine Lord bowed to the king and went towards the door as well, when Caspian called after him with a low voice, "One word like these towards her Majesty again and it will be your last!"

* * *

"I hate this!" Susan screamed, slamming the door to her chambers behind her.

Lucy looked up, "What happened this time?" she asked, knowing the moods swings of her sister pretty well.

"Caspian sent me to my chambers! How dares he doing such a thing? I am a queen of Narnia! He can't just send me to my chambers!" she said, fretting and fuming.

"I am pretty sure Caspian didn't mean it like that! What did he say exactly?" Lucy tried to calm down her sister, knowing that she was likely to overreact.

"He told a soldier to escort me to my chambers. I don't need escorting. I can go wherever I want in this castle. I have been at home here longer than Caspian has been!" Susan stated, her voice still trembling from anger.

"I am sure he had his reasons for doing that! Why did he send you away in the first place?" Lucy asked.

Susan hesitated, "Well...err... I kind of attacked a member of the council, but after what he had said..."

"You did what?" Lucy exclaimed disbelieving.

"This idiot of Telmarine Lord, Lord Delian, insulted Caspian and our family, he kind of told me that this wasn't my place and that we are influencing Caspian to our own good. Can you imagine that? After everything we sacrificed he accuses us that we are only thinking about ourselves and the Old Narnians!" Susan told her sister discomposed.

"Susan what did you think? That they would welcome us with open arms after we fought a war against them?" Lucy said, shaking her head.

"Well we came here to help them and that's what I told Lord Delian as well. You know what he answered?" Susan asked furiously, "He asked me if we would help them like we helped our brother! Can you believe this? After everything we sacrificed..."

Susan threw herself on the bed. Her anger had changed into frustration; tears were running down her cheeks, revealing her grief about everything that was happening. Lucy walked over to her sister and sat down next to her on the bed, lying her arm around her shoulders.

"Susan, I can understand that you are angry and frustrated and sad. I know how hard this is for you but you shouldn't have attacked the lord!" Lucy said caring.

"You don't know how hard this is for me. You were supposed to come back. You hadn't had to leave everything behind, thinking that you would never see the people here again!" Susan sobbed, "Tell me, why is he doing this to me?"

Lucy needn't ask, whom her older sister meant by he. "Well he needed our help, but maybe this wasn't his only reason, maybe he is giving you a second chance, ever thought about that? Maybe he regrets tearing you and Caspian apart. Why don't you take that chance? What if you would have to leave tomorrow? Aren't there things you would like to do, you would like to tell somebody?"

"I just can't! I can't lose him again! I can't go through all this hurt and pain again!" Susan whispered sobbing.

"It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all!"

* * *

Peter spurred his horse even faster. The young king didn't care for the soldiers who he had left behind some time ago. He just enjoyed riding through his beloved woods, hearing the rustling of the leaves and the thundering of the hoof beats that shook the ground, with the wind in his hair.

Riding through Narnia made him feel complete, made him forget his problems. Even back in the golden age, when things had been outgrowing him, when he hadn't been able to handle them anymore, he had taken the fastest horse in the stables and had just left everything behind. It didn't matter where he went, he just needed to get his mind free. The journey was the reward.

And right now he had plenty problems to forget, his brother and his cousin still missing, an impending war and anxious people rioting. So he had seized the chance to inspect the boundaries at once. They had been riding for more than six hours now, without noticing anything out of the ordinary. They had met some humans and talking beasts, which were flying to the castle to seek refugee after they had heard of the coming war, but in spite of that everything was as customary.

Suddenly his stallion reared up and Peter barely got hold of the mane to avoid falling off. When he looked around to search for the urge, he caught sight of a beautiful dun horse that was tied to one of the trees. Warned he looked around searching for the owner and possible enemy. His right hand moved automatically to his sword, ready to fight an attacker.

But there was no sign of anybody, so Peter got off his horse and moved slowly towards the mare. Suddenly he heard the leaves rustling behind him. Unsheathing his sword he turned around and was standing in front of a hooded man, who attacked him with his sword.

His blocks and blows were that quickly and hard that Peter was taken aback although he had expected an attacker. The young king could only just fend off his attacks, being pushed back. With a quick move the attacker knocked the sword out of Peter's hand and Peter stumbled back, falling over a root to the ground.

The hooded man held out his sword towards Peter and asked with a disguised voice, "Who are you?"

"High King Peter!" the voice of one of the soldiers sounded through the air and within a minute the two opponents were surrounded by Narnians.

"Well that's a pleasant surprise!" the stranger said, taking off his mask, revealing his face.

When Peter caught sight of the face of his attacker, he was taken aback by what he saw.

* * *

_**Well that's it! I hope you like it! Do you have any guesses who the attacker is? Well I give you a hint - it is definitely not the one you're thinking of! ;) ... **_

**_Reviews would be great as always! :) .. And thanks to those who reviewed so far! You guys are great! _**

**_PS: For those who are reading Susan's Tale as well - I don't have the time to update it right now - but I'll try to update soon!! _**


	7. Chapter 7: The Warning

_**Hey guys - I am sorry I haven't updated for a while - I had too many things (tests, exams, term papers...) to do! But finally here it is! Enjoy reading! **_

_**PS: Well to be fair you couldn't really have guessed the attacker! ;)  
**_

* * *

The hooded attacker was a woman. Peter couldn't believe it. He had just fought against a woman. But more importantly he had just been defeated by a woman in sword fighting.

"But you are... you are..." the young king stammered still lying on the ground looking at the woman that had just defeated him, "Who are you?"

"My name is Cora." the young woman simply said, holding out her hand towards the High King to help him up. Peter hesitated for a second but then grabbed her hand and stood up. Her hands were little and soft, but he recognized the strength she had in her arms.

Still holding her hand Peter gazed at her face, meeting her wonderful deep green eyes. The young woman blushed, moving her free hand to her brown hair that was shivering slightly reddish in the sun.

"May I have my hand back?" she asked without breaking the eye contact.

"Of course. I am sorry." Peter said embarrassed, letting go of her hand, "May I ask you what you are doing here alone and unprotected in the woods, my lady?"

"As you may have noticed, I can protect myself on my own quite well, your majesty." Cora answered back, sheathing her sword she continued, "I come from Archenland to warn you."

"To warn us against what?" Peter asked, although he was already guessing the answer.

"To warn you against the Calormen, they are preparing to invade Narnia!"

* * *

"You want what?" Susan couldn't believe what she had just heard.

"We've to stop the Calormen before they do any harm on Narnia. We've to gather all our forces and attack them. We can't just sit around and wait till they attack us. We've to protect our people!" Peter repeated what he had just said.

"That's insane! You want to attack them just because any girl who happens to come along says that they want to invade Narnia? You want to risk the lives of our soldiers, just because of what she said? We don't have any proof that what she has said is right." Susan hissed her voice getting louder and louder, not regarding that the person she talked about might here everything outside in the hall.

"We have her word. She took great hazards to get here to warn us. Moreover the Calormen have already invaded Archenland. That would be reason enough to attack them, don't you think?" Peter pointed out, trying to keep his voice calm.

"If you march in Archenland, you're not better than the Calormen!" Susan screamed.

"I can't understand you. You know that that war is the reason why Aslan sent us here and that the sooner we finish it, the sooner we can search Edmund and Eustace, the sooner we can return to England. I thought you want to get away from here?"

At these words Caspian, who had been sitting silently next to them, not wanting to get between them once more, felt a twinge in his heart. He thought of their last good-bye, remembering how much it had hurt him.

"And why are you so against attacking the Calormen?" Peter continued, "You know their character, you know how they are. Especially you should know what a danger they are!"

At this point Lucy stepped in, obviously used to settle a dispute between her siblings, "Please stop fighting you two! I think we can trust Cora's word, but we've sent a messenger to Anvard and before he returns or we get news from him, we can't attack them anyway. That wouldn't be proper. What do you think, Caspian?"

"I think you're right." Caspian said, thankful for her help, "We should wait until we get news from the messenger and then we will decide what to do next."

"Well, that's settled then. Come on, Peter! Let's show our new guest the castle!" Lucy grabbed Peter's arm, guiding him out of the room before he could say anything else, leaving Susan and Caspian alone in the room.

There was an awkward silence. Caspian looked down to the ground, not knowing what to say.

Susan looked expectantly at Caspian, waiting for his apology. Susan already thought about leaving the room without saying a word, when Caspian finally took courage.

"I apologize, my lady!" the young king said, looking at her in discomfort, "For any offence I've given you today, my deepest regrets. I didn't mean to hurt you, I just wanted to..." at this point he struggled a bit about what to say, "I just wanted to protect you." He looked that distraught that the Susan couldn't really be angry at him anymore.

"Well, you're not the only one to blame. I guess I overreacted a little bit. I am sorry too!" she said smiling, "Let's just forget, what happened today."

Caspian looked surprised but pleased that she had given away that quickly. He nodded and continued to speak haltingly, "Then may I ask why your brother said that especially you should know what the Calormen are like?"

Susan hesitated and Caspian could tell from the expression in her eyes that that was a topic she preferred not to talk about. Finally she sighed.

"Well, as you might know, back in the golden age I was courted by many princes of neighbouring countries including Prince Rabadash of Calormen." As she started to explain bitterly, Caspian could feel jealousy rising in him.

"Edmund and I visited Tashbaan. At most times Rabadash was courteous and nice but from time to time..." she turned around to hide her feelings and tears, pretending to look outside the windows, "I saw through his game and refused to marry him! But he would not take no for an answer and threatened that he would hold Narnian delegation prisoners until I consented. So we escaped in the cover of the night." Now Caspian's feeling changed into anger, thinking of somebody threatening his beloved queen.

"Furious, Rabadash conceived a plan to lead a raid to conquer Archenland and then use it as a staging post to conquer Narnia and capture me. Luckily this plan was overheard and we were warned, so we were able to prepare an army and defeat Rabadash." she finished her explanation, a sob escaping her mouth.

"So many brave men died in that war. All because of me." she added whispering.

Caspian stepped towards her, laying one hand on her shoulder to show his sympathy, "I am sorry, my lady!"

"You needn't be. That was a long time ago." Susan said, the bitterness in her voice revealing that it still haunted her in her dreams. And with this she left the room, not wanting him to see her tears.

* * *

Cora here, Cora there. Cora is so friendly. Cora is so beautiful. Cora is so cooperative. Cora, Cora, Cora. Susan couldn't hear that name anymore.

Cora had made herself popular and liked in the whole castle within the next day. Even the servants and maids liked her because she was so obliging.

She seemed to be Lucy's new best friend, even though Cora was older than Susan. The two of them were hanging around together all the time, playing cards or just sitting together and laughing. And everytime Susan sat with them she felt like an outsider.

Peter slobbered over her anyway all the time like a lovesick idiot. Susan had never experienced him like that, not even in the golden age when he had courted one of his numerous devotees. And even Caspian had praised her for her superior sword fighting.

Suddenly Cora was the most beautiful, the most talented woman. Everybody loved her. Everybody but Susan. Susan didn't trust her. There was something about this young woman that made Susan doubt her intentions. She couldn't tell what it was. But her instinct told her that there was something amiss about the Archenlander.

She had introduced herself as a maid from the castle of Anvard. But she didn't act like a maid, the way she was moving, the way she was talking was different than to what Susan was used to from maids.

Cora had overheard a conversation of the Tisroc and his generals where they had talked about a battle plan to invade Narnia. At least she had said so, Susan had doubts. She couldn't tell any details just that they were planning to march in Narnia. Maybe she had just misunderstood what they had said or maybe she was a spy. In any case something was fishy about her.

In the evening after Cora had arrived, they were dining together. They still hadn't got any news from the messenger. And guess what their topic was!

"You have to be really skilled in sword fighting, Cora", Lucy complimented her new friend, "Nobody has ever defeated Peter, except for Edmund."

Suddenly there was an awkward silence in the dining hall, all of them thinking of their lost brother or friend. It was Susan who broke it, "Caspian defeated Peter as well."

"Come on, Su! When did Caspian defeat me?" Peter asked laughing.

"When we first met him." Susan smiled over at Caspian, thinking of their first meeting.

"That's not fair! That doesn't count. We were interrupted. Otherwise I would have defeated him." Peter said in an angry voice, his cheeks blushing.

"Let's call it a draw!" Caspian laughed.

"Where did you even learn sword fighting?" Susan asked Cora, her eyes fixed coldly on her, the smile she had just had on her lips vanished, "Do all maids at Anvard learn to handle a blade?" she added sarcastically.

"No, your majesty, or we wouldn't have been defeated by the Calormen!" Cora answered back, returning the look.

"So from whom did you learn it?" Susan stuck to her guns.

"My brother taught me." Cora informed her in an offish voice without breaking the eye contact.

"And why didn't your brother accompany you on this dangerous mission?" Susan followed up the matter.

"Susan!" Peter said in a warning voice, feeling the tension between the two women.

"What?" Susan asked innocently, "That's a normal question."

She turned again to Cora, the expression in her eyes hardening, "So?"

Cora's gaze was as cold as ice as she answered, "Because he died in the fight against the Calormen!"

* * *

"How could you, Su? How could you push her like that?" Peter was furious.

"There is something amiss with her. Didn't you notice how she avoided my question?" Susan defended herself.

"She lost her brother and she doesn't want to talk about it! I, myself, can imagine how hard it is to lose a brother. Can you?" Peter yelled at his sister, losing his temper.

Susan didn't answer, her gaze focusing on the floor with tears in her eyes.

"You know what I think?" Peter continued, his voice still angry, "I think you are jealous! Because all your life long you've been the most beautiful, the most talented woman. All your life long you've taken centre stage. If you've been in the room no man had looked at any other woman. And now that not everything centres on you, you are trying to make the person that upstages you bad."

"Is that really what you are thinking of me?" Susan asked disgusted.

"Yes, and you know what else I am thinking? That you don't want to attack the Calormen because you know once we've end that war, we will have to return to England. I think that in spite of what you are saying, you enjoy it to be back in Narnia, you want to stay here. And that's selfish and unfair, unfair towards Aslan, unfair towards Narnia and unfair towards Edmund and Eustace!"

"And what if I want to stay in Narnia? What if once in my life I am thinking of myself? What if once in my life I don't want to sacrifice everything for Narnia and Aslan? What if I want to stay at the place I call home, to stay with the man I love? Is that really asking too much?" Susan screamed, tears running down her cheeks.

When he saw his sister like that, drenched in tears, Peter couldn't be angry anymore. He approached her, laying his hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

"Of course not, Su!" the young king sighed, "I know how you are feeling, I want to stay here too. Narnia is my home as well. But we can't risk the lives of our people, just because we want to stay here a bit longer. That's not fair! And think of Edmund and Eustace, the sooner we get this done the sooner we can search for them."

"And what if we don't find them?" Susan sobbed, "I prefer to think of them somewhere out there than to have the certainty that they are dead."

"Oh, Su!" Peter had forgotten all his anger, "I am sure they are not dead. We just need to have faith in Aslan and everything will be alright in the end, you will see."

"Why isn't He here then, helping us?" Susan asked, leaning her head against his chest.

"He will come when the time is right!" Peter assured her, hugging his sister to comfort her.

* * *

_**So that's it! What do you think about Cora? Like her? Don't like her? ... **_

_**I hope you liked it over all. Reviews would be great as always. :) **_

_**Well and again thanks to those who reviewed so far. You're the best!!**_

_**PS: I am sorry but I haven't had the time to respond to any of your reviews in the last week - and for now I thought updating was the better thing to do - but I'll get back to them!  
**_


	8. Chapter 8: In the End it won't be enough

_**I am so sorry for long waiting but university just kept me occupied (but I passed all my exams yay!! :)) ... So enjoy reading!**_

* * *

"Do you miss your brother?"

That question came that out of nowhere that Cora nearly fell off her horse, when she turned around to face Peter. A minute ago they had been laughing about Trumpkin's nickname, dear little friend. The two young people were just riding through Narnia's woods, enjoying each other's company, like they had quite often in the last view days.

Cora enjoyed the time she spent with the Pevensies, especially with Peter and from time to time she nearly forgot about Archenland and the problems her people had there, from time to time she wished that she could just stay here and everytime she thought of one of these things she immediately felt guilty and out of place, like she didn't belong here and like she should return to Archenland immediately.

However, they've decided to wait until they got news from the negotiator and even though it was hard for Cora to wait knowing that her people were suffering, she accepted the fact that they couldn't entry into war blindly.

Peter had told her everything about their visits in Narnia and Cora already felt an inner connection with him. Therefore it didn't felt odd to her to talk to him about her feelings and so she answered without hesitating, although the question had surprised her.

"Yes, every second of every day." the young woman answered sadly.

The moment Peter saw the smile on her face vanishing, her eyes filling with grief, he regretted his question. He loved her smile, the way her whole face beamed with joy, the way her wonderful green eyes lit up.

"I am doing this for him, you know." she continued, her gaze towards the ground, "He died fighting for justice and peace. He died because he wanted Archenland to be free from the Calormen and I won't rest until I fulfil his last desire. I won't rest until I've taken revenge for his death and even if it's the last thing I ever do."

When she looked up, and their gaze met, Peter could not only see the grief in her eyes, but also decidedness and determination. He admired her for her strength, for her strength in a situation he knew all too well.

"And what about you?" she asked, knowing that this feeling was one that they had in common.

"It's really hard without him. He had always been the one who had kept us together. I didn't realize how much we need him. How much I need him." he added quietly.

Cora just nodded understandingly. Then they just rode next to each silently. But it wasn't an awkward silence, where nobody knew what to say, but rather a pleasant silence, where they needn't words to understand each other.

"You know, he would laugh at me if he knew that I was defeated by a woman in sword fighting." Peter said laughing, lifting their spirits.

"Well, maybe he wouldn't laugh anymore if I defeat him as well." Cora said smiling.

"Would you give me the opportunity of winning my honour back in a horse race, my lady?" Peter smirked.

"You really want to lose again?" she asked with a bride smile on her face, tightening her strings to make ready for the race.

"If I have to, I go down with flying colours!" Peter said laughing, spurring his horse.

* * *

Susan drew her bow and focused her target. She was oblivious of her surroundings, her world only revolving around the target. She felt the tension force in her bow and when she released the arrow, she knew that it would hit the bull's eye exactly in the middle. Her bow had never failed her.

That was the one thing she could count on. That she would never miss her target. That was the one thing she could control. She couldn't control the Telmarine council, she couldn't help her brother and her cousin, she couldn't stop the war, she couldn't control if and how long she was going to stay in Narnia and she couldn't control her feelings towards Caspian. She couldn't say what was going to happen next, but her bow was the one thing she could deal with.

And once she held him in her arms, her eyes focusing on the target, she could forget everything else. In this moment the only thing that mattered was hitting the target and this feeling was liberating.

When all her arrows with the red feathers had hit the bull's eye, Susan went to get them. That was the part of the archery training where she could think through her problems, having her mind cleared.

She thought about the conversations she had had with her siblings. Peter had been right. She would have never admit it to herself, but deep down in her heart she wanted so badly to stay in Narnia, she wanted so badly to stay with Caspian, that she would've risked the lives of all Narnians. Once in her life she wanted to put her own needs before the other's, once in her life she didn't want to sacrifice everything, once in her life she wanted to decide about her destiny, about her future on her own.

But she knew no matter how much she wished for it, for staying in Narnia, it wasn't fair to risk other people's lives, it wasn't fair to put her own welfare before so many others. She had to accept the fact that a life with Caspian wasn't what was destined for her, that she was intended for something else, something different in England, that Narnia wasn't her world to live in, at least not any more.

And that made her think about what Lucy had said. It is better to have love and lost than never to have loved. There had been times back in England when she would have said, better never to have met Caspian in her dreams than to wake and reach for somebody that is not there. There had been times where she had wished to forget about him, to forget about him and Narnia, but she just hadn't been able to, no matter how hard she had tried.

But now, when she thought of their moments together, of the butterflies in her stomach, of her heart beating faster everytime he had looked at her, of the pins and needles on her skin when he had touched her, she couldn't imagine never loving him. She couldn't imagine never to have met him, even if she had to live her life without him.

Maybe Lucy was right, maybe Aslan was giving her a second chance, a chance to do what she had failed to do before she left the last time, a chance to disburden her heart. This time she knew she would leave soon, she knew that there wasn't much time left. This time she wouldn't leave anything unsettled. She would tell him how she felt about him, leaving him with more than a kiss this time.

Well, speaking of the devil. He was just approaching her.

By now Susan had picked up her arrows and had gotten back to her shooting position. In order not to stand there with egg on her face, Susan drew her bow and aimed. Caspian stopped behind her silently, watching her arrows hitting the bull's eye.

When there was only one left, he suddenly asked, "Have you ever failed?"

Susan released her last arrow. Knowing that it would hit the aim, she turned around to face Caspian. "Yes, but never with bow and arrow."

"I've made so many mistakes in my life, but I don't intend to make them twice." she continued, "When I left Narnia last time, I left so many things unsaid and I am not intending to do that again. So here it is."

She took a deep breath and looked directly into his wonderful chocolate brown eyes, "I love you. I've loved you since we first met and I will always love you. When I left Narnia, I left my heart here with you. Being in England, being apart from you nearly killed me. I've tried so hard to forget about you, but I just couldn't. And when we returned to Narnia, I couldn't think of anything else but losing you again because I know in the end our love won't be enough."

"And it doesn't change anything," she continued in a rush, "I know that. It doesn't change anything, it can't change anything. Because our love can't change destinies, because our love won't be enough, but I want you to know that I will always love you, no matter what my destiny is going to be. No matter what the future holds for me, no matter if we are worlds apart, I will always love you with all my heart!"

There was a painful silence, and all she could hear was her own heartbeat pounding in her ears. Without saying a word Caspian stepped closer, so that Susan could feel his breath on her skin, reaching up a hand to wipe away the lonely tear that had escaped her eyes. Then he tipped her head back a little gently, without breaking eye contact and leaned in to kiss her. He covered her mouth with his and when he gently bit her lower lip, she opened beneath him.

This was the moment he had been dreaming of for three years, the moment he had been hoping for such a long time. And now that it was finally there he wanted it to last forever.

Then all of a sudden the woman in his arms cried out in pain and he felt how she dropped in his arms, her body covering with blood.

* * *

_**So what do you think? Sorry for leaving you on a cliffhanger (I don't know, I just love them ;)) ... **_

_**I know it's only a short chapter but therefore I am going to update sooner this time, promise!! **_

**_Well and again a big big big thank to those who reviewed so far - you're just great! _**


	9. Chapter 9: Checkmate

**So here it is - I am really sorry for leaving you on a cliffhanger last time (and even though I know it's evil I am intending to do so again - sorry for that ;)) .... **

**But for now enjoy Reading! **

* * *

"My knight captures your dame." Cora said with a bride smile on her face, moving her chessman.

"You're wearing me down." Lucy stated looking at her few chessmen that had remained on the field, capturing one of Cora's pawns with her bishop.

"You're good at sword fighting, riding horses, playing chess… Is there anything you can't do?" Peter, who was watching them from the corner of his eyes while reading a book, asked.

Instead of an answer she grinned at him, moving her chessmen.

"Checkmate!"

Suddenly the door was pushed open and Caspian rushed in, carrying the unconscious Susan in his arms. Lucy nearly fell off the chair, when she saw his sister's silver-white dress soaked in blood, her arm's hanging lifeless to the ground.

"What happened?" Peter asked shocked, running towards Caspian to help him.

"She got shot by a crossbow." Caspian informed Peter shortly, lying Susan gently on Lucy's bed.

"Lucy, get the cordial!" Peter instructed Lucy, who was already rushing towards her commode.

Peter hunkered over Susan, feeling her pulse. "She's still breathing" he said relieved. Then he looked towards Lucy, who was rummaging around in the drawer, "Where's the cordial, Lu?"

"I can't find it. It's gone!" Lucy exclaimed in a hysterical voice.

"What do you mean it's gone? It can't be gone!" Caspian screamed his eyes wide open.

"Calm down Caspian, going ballistic won't help anybody." Peter said, trying to keep his head, "Cora, please send for a healer immediately. Lucy, when did you last have it?"

"This morning it was still in the drawer. I check every morning if it's still here."

"Are you sure you didn't put it anywhere else?" Peter asked, wanting to set the record straight.

Lucy nodded, "Of course not. I keep the dagger and the cordial always in my drawer so that I can find it immediately if there is any emergency. And my dagger is gone as well."

"Then somebody must have stolen it!" Peter concluded.

"But who would do such a thing?" the credulous young queen asked.

"Well maybe the same man who shot Susan, so that we won't be able to help her" Peter suggested, shuttering at the thought that somebody wanted his sister dead that badly.

"There are not many people who have access to this part of the castle. We've a traitor in our own rows." Caspian said distraughtly, looking down at the wounded queen, feeling anger and thirst for revenge rising in his body.

"Yes and this traitor knows us pretty well, he knows our steps." Peter continued.

Suddenly the door flew open again and Cora rushed in, followed by a healer. The healer didn't take notice of any of them, he ran over to Susan and started immediately to treat the wound with the few things he had brought with him.

"Will she get through this?" Peter asked the question nobody else dared to ask.

"She has to get through it." Caspian whispered silently, tears running down his cheek.

The healer shook his head, "She is burning up and she has lost a lot of blood. The only thing we can do is to stop the bleeding and hope for a miracle."

"There must be more we can do!" Caspian yelled at the healer, his voice making the walls tremble.

"Caspian, stop yelling! This won't help her." Peter said definitively, "Come on, Su needs rest and we need to figure out what had happened."

"We can't leave her alone." Caspian said indignant, not wanting to leave her.

"I'll stay with her." Lucy said, sitting on the edge of Susan's bed, taking gently Susan's hand.

"Okay, but if anything changes, inform us immediately!" Caspian gave in, tearing away his gaze from Susan with a heavy heart.

Once everyone had left the room, Lucy started whispering to her sister, still caressing her hand gently, "Su, please, you have to fight! You can't leave me. Please, I can't lose you as well."

Her tears were running down her cheek, falling on the bed, mingling with the blood that had once pumped through her sister's body. Lucy looked at her sister, her face pale, her hair clotted from the blood, her silver-white dress had changed mostly into a pink one, and wondered how beautiful she still looked on a knife edge to death. She nearly looked like she was sleeping peacefully, except for the blood that still covered her body, and her burning skin.

Then Lucy looked outside the window, catching sight of the glistering eastern sea, "Aslan, please, I've never asked anything from you. Please, don't let her die!"

* * *

"He must have been hiding by the trees over there!" Peter concluded, looking over the archery field, "You're sure you didn't see anything?"

Caspian shook his head distraughtly.

"Was Su practicing archery?" Peter asked, ignoring Caspian's words.

"Yes, what else should she have done?" Caspian asked embarrassed.

"Well, then where are her bow and her arrows?" Peter remarked, searching the field.

Caspian looked around as well, noticing that they were indeed gone, "The attacker must have stolen them. You think he is after your Christmas presents?" Caspian asked, knowing that that question sounded a little weird.

"I don't know, but it's a possibility." Peter continued, "Was there anybody else who could have seen anything?"

Again the king shook his head, "We were alone. At least I thought so. I should have protected her!"

"Caspian, it's not your fault and accusing yourself won't help Su. We need to find out, who attacked her, because this person might have the cordial and the cordial is the only thing that can help her." Peter said with finality in his voice, "So, who do you think might want Susan dead?"

Caspian shuttered at that thought, "Well technically there are many people, who aren't that happy about you being back, but I can't think of anybody who..."

"Wait, I know who did this!"

* * *

Lord Delian was talking to some other Telmarine lords in the hall, where the Telmarine council met, when the door was suddenly pushed open noisily, framing an angry Caspian. The furious king rushed towards the lords, aiming at one specific.

With one hand he pushed the lord against the wall, holding his sword to the lord's throat with his other hand. His eyes were sparkling black, his hands shook in anger and his voice as intimidating as ever, he yelled at the lord, "It was you! You attacked us. You hurt her. I've warned you once but this time you've..."

"Caspian, stop it!" Peter screamed, rushing into the hall, breathing heavily.

Caspian turned around to face Peter, without dropping his sword, "It was him, Peter. He attacked Susan."

"How do you know this? I thought you didn't see anybody?" Peter asked.

"I just know it." Caspian yelled, turning back to face the lord again, "Tell them! Tell them, what you did, or I swear by Aslan you won't be telling anybody anything again!"

"I don't know what your Majesty is talking about." Lord Delian said a malicious smile on his lips, "Is this the way you treat honourable men in Narnia?" he added further.

"This is the way I treat men, who attacked her majesty."

"Caspian, let him go!" Peter said, his voice not sounding like this wasn't a request but rather an order.

"What?" Caspian asked, thinking he must have misheard, "Your sister is in mortal agony and you want the man who caused this to get away?"

"We don't have any proves that he did this. So, please Caspian, drop your sword!" Peter said, laying one hand on his friend's shoulder to calm him down.

Caspian hesitated one moment, his hands quivering. Then he dropped his sword and stepped back.

"I am sorry for this outburst, my lord." Peter apologized formally, "But I have to ask to search your quarters."

* * *

"You didn't find anything, did you?"

Peter turned around surprised, facing Cora. She was wearing a green Narnian dress that matched perfectly with the colour of her eyes. Her long hair was shimmering as red as the sun that was just sinking down into the sea.

"The whole castle is talking about it, you know." Cora continued, stepping next to Peter to the guardrail of the balcony, looking over the beautiful landscape of Narnia, "It's breathtaking, isn't it?"

"As are you!" Peter whispered and as they both blushed, he looked away quickly, clearing his throat, "No, we didn't find anything, neither Susan's bow and arrows nor the cordial nor any other crossbow, but I didn't expect to."

"So you don't believe Caspian?" Cora asked sounding surprised.

"Even if he is right, I wouldn't have expected Lord Delian to hide these things in his quarters, where, he knew, we would search first." Peter explained, avoiding to asked her question, whether he believed Caspian or not. I didn't know what to believe. Lord Delian had argued with Susan before and he knew that Lord Delian was more than not happy that he and his siblings were back, but he didn't think of him as a murderer. And he knew that Caspian was oversensitive when it came to Susan, he knew that he was blind in rage and love.

But Caspian wasn't the only one, thirsting for revenge. Peter was as well angry and desperate about what had happened. But accusing a Telmarine lord of good standing without any proves was just something they couldn't afford right now. The people were frightened because of the upcoming war and split in their opinions about his and his siblings return and they couldn't risk a civil war.

"I just hope she's going to be fine." Peter whispered with tears in his eyes, "I wouldn't stand losing her as well."

"I am sure she's going to be alright." Cora said caring, turning towards him, laying her hand on his. Peter turned to face her as well, glancing down at their hands.

For a moment they just stood there, looking at each other. Then Peter leaned in to kiss her, slowly and shyly. Halfway he stopped, waiting if she shied away, but she didn't. So he moved one hand to her neck and covered her lips with his.

As he felt her soft lips on his, her body that near to his, his hand on her bare neck, he forgot about everything else, about his sister, who was that close to death, about his brother, who was lost somebody out there, about the war that was coming, about the fact that they would have to leave Narnia sooner or later. All he thought of was the young woman that he was kissing. Her beauty, her smell, her taste, her wonderful lips... He had never experienced a kiss like that, not with so much love. He felt like he was floating.

And then, all of a sudden, there was a young woman's scream, loud, shrill and fearful.

Peter backed off, looking shocked at Cora, knowing perfectly well, whose voice this was.

"Lucy!**_"_**

* * *

_**Yes, I did it again - leaving you on a cliffhanger - I am sorry - I know it's evil (by the way did you watch Grey's Anatomy finale - compared to that evil cliffhanger mine is really nice and you don't have to wait that loing ;)) ... So what do you think? Like it? Don't like it? Tell me your thoughts - even if you're mad at me or don't like it! ;) ... **_

_**Well and I want to thank again those who reviewed so far - you really always make my day!! I'll try to update soon! :) **_


	10. Chapter 10: Outbursts of Fury and Love

_**So here it is - finally - the next chapter - I am really sorry for the long waiting - but again university just kept me occupied! **_

_**So without mincing matters - enjoy reading! **_

* * *

The dead body was lying in the hall, where the council met, covered in blood, Caspian's dagger still tucked into the chest, exactly where the heart had once beaten.

It was a horrible sight. Nevertheless many people had assembled, looking shocked at the dead body, whispering with each other about what might have happened.

"Out! Everybody gets out of here!" Peter yelled, angry about so many curious onlookers. With another glance at the body, they left the room, preparing themselves to spread rumours.

When Peter turned around, he saw Caspian rushing into the room, looking shocked as he saw the dead body. The high king unsheathed his sword and ran towards Caspian, attacking him immediately. Before Caspian knew what was happening to him, he was pushed against the wall, Peter's sword at his throat.

"Did you do this?" Peter yelled, his hands and his voice trembling.

Caspian shook his head, "Why would I do this?"

"I don't know, maybe because you threatened to kill him an hour ago? Maybe because Lord Delian was one of your worst enemies? Maybe because you are blind in rage and love?" Peter yelled biting.

"Peter, let him go!" Lucy shouted, approaching her brother, lying one hand on his shoulder to calm him down, "It wasn't him."

She had been the one who had found Lord Delian's dead body in the hall and she had followed her first instinct and had screamed. She hadn't seen anybody but she knew it hadn't been Caspian. She trusted him, she knew he would never do such an awful thing.

Peter dropped his sword, "Do you even know how much trouble this causes?"

"I DIDN'T DO IT!" Caspian screamed, angry about the false accusation, withdrawing himself from Peter.

"It's your dagger in him. You're the one who wanted Lord Delian dead so badly. Why would I believe you?" Peter asked, his voice still loud and angry.

"Because I thought after everything we've gone through together, I would belong to your family, or at least be your friend and friends believe each other." Caspian shouted with glassy eyes.

"Of course, you belong to our family, Caspian." Lucy said, glaring at Peter admonitory.

At these words and Lucy's glance Peter composed himself a little bit, continuing with a calmer voice, "But even if we believe you, everybody else will think that you killed him. The people will think that you're a murderer, they will think that you are like Miraz."

"I AM NOT LIKE MY UNCLE!" Caspian shouted furiously.

"We know that, but, Caspian, the people are scared, they are afraid of the coming war. There are already some people that are against you and especially against us and this murder will make it even worse." Peter said a lot calmer than before and gave Caspian a pat on his back.

"So who did it then?" Cora, who had kept herself in the back so far, asked.

"Either somebody, who wants Caspian to lose the trust of his people, or somebody who wanted to silence Lord Delian. And either way we still have a traitor in our rows!" Peter concluded, looking everything else than happy.

* * *

Caspian felt raw as he watched his love fighting for her life. Susan was burning, her normally white skin was red and she cried in pain from time to time. Caspian wanted to take her pain on himself, but there was nothing he couldn't do and that was the worst thing for him. In a battle he could fight, defending himself and others, smashing his sword against his enemies, living out his anger, but if somebody lied in the bed ill, there was nothing one could do except for waiting and hoping.

He hadn't left Susan's side since they had found Lord Delian's dead body, not only because he wanted to protect her from the traitor, but although because he wasn't able to do anything else, to concentrate on anything else while she was fighting here for her life. He couldn't do anything to make her pain less, but what he could do was being with her, caressing her hand, dabbing her forehead with a wet cloth and talking to her quietly.

He had been sitting next to her for six long hours, which had seemed like eternity to Caspian, when she finally opened her eyes.

"Caspian..." she whispered before her voice broke down again.

"Shh, you have to save yourself. You're still weak." Caspian said caring, stroking her hair.

"Lucy, Peter..." Susan breathed out.

"They are fine. I'll send for them." Caspian said, stepping to the door, sticking out his head to tell one of the soldiers to get them. He had sent the protesting Lucy to bed, so that she would get at least some hours of sleep and he wondered himself where Peter was, since he hadn't seen him since their fight.

"Where's the cord..." she couldn't finish her question because of a coughing fit, but Caspian knew what she wanted to asked.

"Somebody stole the cordial. But you are going to be fine. Everything is alright. You just need time to rest." he tried to convince both of them, looking worried down on her weary face, "You're going to be alright." he repeated, dabbing her forehead with the wet cloth again, tears in his eyes.

Susan just shook her head, tears running down her cheeks.

"You're going to be alright." Caspian repeated, wiping away the tears from her cheek, resting his hand there, "Aslan won't let you die. He can't let you die."

"He's taking me to his country." Susan breathed out, her look deadly serious, "I can feel it, Caspian. I am going to die!"

* * *

Peter couldn't sleep. Well that wasn't surprising to him, after all, his sister was fighting for her life. And if he had been able to sleep peacefully, he wouldn't be the brother he was. But he couldn't be with her either, although he knew he should be at her side, even if he couldn't help her, he should be there for her.

But that was just the point, he couldn't help her. And he just couldn't watch her enduring all this pain, while he couldn't do anything against it. He couldn't help her like he hadn't been able to help Edmund. And this helplessness was wearing him down.

So Peter had stocked up on work the whole day to avoid thinking of his sister being that near to death. He had interrogated everybody in the castle if somebody had seen or noticed anything about Lord Delian's death, without any result.

Later that day he had ridden to Aslan's How, where they had gathered their troops for the upcoming war. There he had overseen the training, given a few tips here and there. It had reminded him so much of Aslan's Camp when they had fought against the White Witch and he had wished so much that Aslan would have been there, like he had been then.

When he came by the tree near the river, where he had defended Susan and Lucy against the wolves more than thirteen hundred years ago, an idea came to his mind. This had been the place, where Susan had first blown her horn and she had received help. So maybe they just needed to blow the horn and Aslan would send them help or even come on his own.

So he had ridden back to the castle as fast as he could. He had turned the whole castle upside down, but again with no result. He hadn't found the horn, not even with Lucy's and Trumpkin's help. Either the traitor had stolen it as well or Susan had made a real good job hiding it.

In the evening he had kept himself occupied by making different battle plans. And right now he was heading for the kitchen to see if the cook had left some desserts. When Peter entered the kitchen, he noticed that he wasn't the only one, who had had this idea.

Cora was sitting at one of the preparation tables, curled up in a chair in a white silk nightgown and a dark green robe. Her dark hair hung loose to the middle of her back. As he walked in she looked up appalled and their gaze met.

"What are doing here?" Peter asked rapidly, not knowing what else to say.

"I couldn't sleep. I thought something to eat might help." She pointed to three small bowls on the table before her, one of strawberries, one of whipped cream, and another of sugar.

At this sight, Peter could feel a twinge in his heart. This had been the way Susan had always eaten strawberries back in the golden age.

"Lucy told me that this is the only proper way to eat strawberries." Cora continued, "Do you want some?"

Peter shook his head, "No, thanks. I've never liked that. I think it's too sweet. Susan always said I've no appreciation for the finer things in life." He approached Cora looking sadly and sat down on the chair next to her.

"How are you?" Cora asked caring, watching him worried.

Peter turned his head, looking into her green eyes meaningful, "How would you be if it was your brother lying in there, fighting for his life?"

Cora nodded understandingly and looked down sorrowful, breaking their eye contact, "You know, when I was little, my father always told me stories of the Golden Age before I went to bed. He told me about the gorgeous festivals back then, about the tournaments, about Prince Corin and Avaris, about the Archenland Conflict and about the Kings and Queens of Old. He always said that, no matter how young and inexperienced you had been, you and your siblings had been the greatest rulers Narnia had ever seen." Cora paused and glanced at Peter, who was looking quite confused, not knowing where she wanted to get at.

"He told me about so many adventures you've gone through, so many difficult situations you've managed." Cora continued, "He said that you found your strength in your family, that you were that strong because you stuck together as a family..."

"Back then it had been much easier, than it is now." Peter interrupted her, still not knowing what she wanted to say, "Narnia was different then. And Aslan he had always been there when we needed him..."

"And he still is!" Cora adjusted, her voice sounding enthusiastic, "As long as you don't lose your faith, he will be there when you need him. But it seems like he thinks that you can handle this on your own. It seems like he has faith in you that you as a family can deal with this situation. And after everything I've heard about you and your family I think that too. You just need to have faith in Aslan, in your family and in your own strength."

Peter just looked at her stunned. Cora blushed, "What?"

"You're unbelievable." Peter said looking at her with wide eyes, and before he knew what he was saying, he continued, "If I hadn't already fallen in love with you, I would certainly now."

At these words Cora's cheeks got even redder than before. Looking down again to hide her face, she whispered, "There are so many things you don't know about me!"

Suddenly the door to the kitchen was pushed open and a soldier rushed in, "Your Majesty, King Caspian sends me. Your sister, the Queen Susan, is awake."

* * *

**_So this is it - I hope you like it! :) _**

**_Any guesses who killed Lord Delian? Any other thoughts? :) Reviews would be great as always and as always thanks to those who reviewed so far - I love to read them!! _**

**_And again I am soooooo sorry for the long waiting - this time I am going to update sooner - promise!! _**


	11. Chapter 11: Time is running out

_**I am so sorry for the long waiting - my life is just all haywire ... but now finally I've time to update. Enjoy reading... :) **_

* * *

"I can feel it, Caspian. I am going to die!"

At these words Caspian could feel how his own heart stopped beating for a second, he could feel how his arms and legs flagged, he could feel how the tears ran down his cheeks faster than they ever had and he could hear a voice in his head screaming, "NO!"

"No, you're not going to die. Not here, not today. You still have time. You have to have more time. We have to have more time." Caspian spluttered, afraid that once he stopped speaking she would close her eyes and never open them again, "Susan, I love you. Please, I cannot lose you. Not again. Not like this. Please, you have to fight!"

"Caspian, I love you too, but I don't have any more strength to fight in me." Susan breathed out, tears running down her cheek as well.

"No, no, no! You have to stay with me. Please, you cannot leave me." Caspian shook his head.

"I'll be with you wherever you'll go. I'll be in your heart forever and always. You carry my love with you, you carry it in your heart." Susan whispered, moving her hand to his chest with great afford. Caspian moved his hand upon hers, closing his eyes, wishing that he would wake up from this nightmare.

Suddenly the door was pushed open and Peter rushed in. When he caught sight of his older sister, he immediately noticed the look on her face. That was a look he had seen a hundred times before in battle, a look he had wished to never see on the face of somebody he loved. It was the look of somebody who knew that he would die.

Peter ran to her side, taking her free hand. "Su!" was all that he was able to say, when he looked into his sister's weary face.

"You have to be strong, Peter. For Lucy, for Narnia!" Susan whispered, looking deep into Peter's green eyes that were full of tears. With this look she wanted to tell him everything she wasn't able to say, because of a lack of strength.

Peter just nodded, not able to say anything, knowing that it wouldn't change anything. He just squeezed her hand to show her that he was there for here.

Then all of a sudden Lucy rushed into the room, in her hand something glittering, screaming the words they had all wished to hear, "I have the cordial!"

* * *

Susan was standing on her balcony watching the radiant southern sun that enlightened the wonderful landscape of Narnia. She leaned on the guardrail, her feet still feeling weak. But she could feel how her body regained strength with every beam of light that touched her body.

It felt like Aslan himself was bestowing light and energy on her and for the first time since she had returned to Narnia she could feel his presence. He still hadn't come to them, explaining why they were back or what was there task to do. But she needn't touch him or see him to know that he was there, to know that he was watching after them, at least not anymore. She could feel his love and his care and for the first time since the golden age she felt secure and thoroughly happy. Ever since they had left Narnia left for the first time, it had felt like a piece of her heart had gone. But now, she felt whole again. She had regained her faith.

Susan heard a person approaching, but needn't turn around to know who it was. She would have been able to tell his footsteps from a hundred people's apart. She could tell how his heart started beating faster when he approached her, like hers did when he was near her.

Caspian stopped behind her, putting a warm blanket over her shoulders, without saying a word. Then he wrapped his arms around her belly, snuggling against her body. They stood there for a few moments silent, just enjoying the nearness of each other.

"I don't want to hear that words from you ever again." Caspian suddenly broke the silence, whispering into her ear. He needn't say what he meant.

"You mean, I am going to..." Susan smirked, turning around to face him, stopping when she saw the expression on his face. His gaze was bitter, still tears in his eyes.

"That's not funny!" Caspian retorted, adding whispering, "I thought that I am going to lose you."

"No, it's not." Susan agreed, "But sooner or later you're going to lose me."

"How do you know? How do you know that Aslan is going to send you back?" Caspian asked, not giving up the hope, "Maybe he will allow you to stay here if you ask him."

"No," Susan shook her head, "I've already asked him, when we had to leave Narnia the last time. I begged him to let me stay here with you. He told me that we weren't destined to be together, that our destinies weren't connected and that we both have our own worlds to live in." Tears were running down her cheeks.

"What did we do wrong to have such a fate?" Caspian said, moving one hand to her cheek to wipe away the tears.

Susan smiled, "You know what? That's what I thought when we first came here to Narnia. And later it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to us."

As she saw Caspian's hurt expression on his face, she immediately regretted what she had just said. "I mean that Aslan has his reasons for doing what he does. He will turn everything right."

Caspian looked surprised, but still hurt, "Since when do you have so much trust in Aslan?"

"Before I drank the cordial, I had seen this wonderful warm bright light and Aslan occurred to me. I don't think that he was really there, more kind of a dream. He told me that it wasn't my time to go and that I needed to have faith." Susan revealed, with a smile on her face and tears in her eyes, "He was the one that saved me. Lucy's cordial healed my body, but Aslan healed my heart and my soul, he gave me the strength that I needed to survive."

"I am not saying that I don't want to be with you." Susan continued, brushing a strand of his hair, that had fallen into his face, back, "If I could have just one wish, I would wish to wake up every day to the sound of your breath on my neck, the warmth of your lips on my cheek, the touch of your fingers on my skin, and the feel of your heart beating with mine. But, it's thanks to Aslan that we met, it's thanks to Aslan that we've found love, so true everybody dreams about and that's something nobody can take away from us. Some people never experience this feeling in their whole life."

Caspian nodded and pulled Susan into a hug, his gaze still hurt and sorrowful.

"I still have to lose you!"

* * *

"Where did you get it from, Lucy?" Peter asked, his voice sounding demanding. He had searched for Lucy for more than half an hour. After Susan had drunken the cordial and recovered so far, Lucy had disappeared quite quickly, what had seemed suspicious to him. Now he had finally found her in the stables, grooming her horse.

Lucy hesitated, looking to the ground, "I... I just found it in my room."

"Don't lie to me, Lucy!" Peter said severely, "Who gave it to you?"

"Is that really important? The only thing that matters is that Susan is fine again, isn't it?" Lucy stated, obviously hiding something.

"No, it's not. This person attacked Su and killed Lord Delian and you want him to get away with this?" Peter said angrily.

"We don't know if he did these things." Lucy defended the unknown.

"Even if he didn't, he still endangered Susan's life. And he will pay for that." Peter shouted, banging his fist against the stable door, Lucy's horse startling at the noise.

"You dreaded to think." Lucy still didn't want to give away the person.

"Lucy, for whom are you covering up?" Peter asked, his voice a little calmer but still demanding.

"Just trust me this one time. You really don't want to know." Lucy tried to persuade her brother without success.

"Lucy! For the last time, who gave you the cordial?" Peter yelled, losing his temper.

"I got it from..." Lucy hesitated, voicing the last word under her breath, "Cora."

* * *

_**Boo hoo! Well I guess most of you have guessed that last part - hope it wasn't boring nevertheless ... :) **_

_**And don't judge Cora too quickly ... **_

_**So what do you say? Any comments, suggestions, complaints? ... Finally I am coming to the part where I haven't everything planned out - so maybe your comments and reviews will influence me. :) **_

_**Thanks to everybody who has reviewed so far - I really always love to read the reviews - they really always make my day a hundred times better :) - and I am sorry if I haven't answered any of the last chapter so far - I'll get back to them as soon as possible - most of them or maybe all right now ... **_

_**So I am looking forward to reading your reviews :) ....  
**_


	12. Chapter 12: The Truth Will Out

_**Well don't really have anything to say besides enjoy reading ... **_

* * *

Long before Peter's mind had realized what he had just heard, he could feel how his heart splintered into a thousand pieces. In his mind he heard Lucy saying the name of the woman that he loved over and over again, not wanting to accept what he had just heard.

"How is Susan?" Peter suddenly heard a voice behind him. He turned around looking into the face of the young woman that had just caused his heart to break.

"Did you steal the cordial?" Peter asked, looking shocked at the woman that had made his heart beating faster everytime he had seen her. But right now he couldn't feel his heart. It was like it had gone, gone with what he had felt for the woman standing in front of him.

"Peter..." Cora stepped closer, laying one hand upon his shoulder, tears in her eyes.

Peter withdrew himself from her touch, looking at her disgustedly, "Did you steal the cordial?" he repeated himself, this time he yelled at her, making the walls trembling.

"Yes, but..." Cora couldn't finish her sentence before Peter turned on his heels and stormed off.

"Please, Peter, stop!" Cora ran after him, begging, "Please, let me explain. I..."

Peter suddenly turned around, facing Cora, his green eyes full of hurt and tears, "How on earth could you do that to me?"

"I am so sorry." Cora closed her eyes, not able to look at Peter with the plain hurt in his eyes, knowing that she had hurt him that much, not knowing what else to say.

"Susan could've died because of you." Peter screamed furiously, his face at red heat.

"I know and I am so sorry. I never wanted to hurt you..."

"Hurt me?" Peter repeated caustic, "You nearly killed my sister."

"I never intended to risk her life." Cora tried to defend herself, tears running down her cheeks, "Things just got out of hand."

"Then what did you intend to do? Spying on us to tell the Calormen about our battle plans? Luring us into a trap? Killing us one after another?"

"I swear to you by Aslan that I didn't want to hurt you in any way." Cora disclaimed, "I just needed the cordial, the magical horn, your sword, the arrows and the bow."

"And what for? To sell them? To get rich?" Peter exclaimed at the top of his voice.

"You should know me better than that." Cora shook her head, looking a hurt from Peter's false accusations.

"Well I thought that I knew you, but obviously I was mistaken." Peter snarled at Cora, "So why did you do it?"

Cora hesitated about what to say, knowing that this would even make it worse, "The Calormen will kill my father, if I don't bring them your weapons."

"Why should they kill especially your father?" Peter asked in bewilderment, "Why should they blackmail especially you with such a task?"

"Because my father is the King of Archenland." the young woman murmured, looking to the ground.

"What?"

"My father is the King of Archenland," she repeated looking up, meeting Peter's gaze, trying to stand it, "And I am Princess Corinne from Archenland."

"So everything..." Peter stammered, "Everything that you said was a lie? About yourself, about your brother, about the Calormen..."

"No! The only thing I lied about was my true identity. The Calormen are really preparing to invade Narnia. They've put my father into prison and they will kill him if I don't bring your weapons. My father is the only one of my family who has remained. I have to save him. What other choice did I have?"

"You had the choice to be honest to me." Peter's voice calmed down a little bit but still full of hurt, "Why should I believe in anything else you say? How do I know that what you say is true?"

The young woman hesitated, stepping closer, laying one hand on his, "Because I love you." she whispered, looking straight into his eyes, "And you love me."

Peter swallowed a sob, "No! I thought that I loved you. But you're not the person I fell in love with." The expression in his eyes hardened and when the woman saw that there was no more love but only hate for her in his eyes, she sank to the floor, sobbing and shaking.

But Peter had no sympathy for the woman on the ground. "You want my sword?" he unsheathed his sword and threw it to the ground next to her, "Take it and leave. I don't want to ever see you again!" And with this he left the young woman sobbing on the ground without looking back.

She hung her head letting out all the tears. She had lost everything, her brother, the man she loved and she was about to lose her father and her kingdom as well. And she didn't know any way out. She knew she had behaved falsely and if she could turn back time, she would have made it different.

"I'll talk to him. He didn't mean it like that." the young woman suddenly heard a sympathetic voice next to her and when she looked up she caught sight of Lucy, who was holding a handkerchief towards her.

Corinne took it thankfully, shaking her head, "No, he's right. What I've done is terrible." she swallowed a sob, glancing at Lucy, "I've stolen your cordial and risked your sister's life. Why aren't you angry at me?"

"Well firstly because you didn't want it to go that far. Secondly because you had the noblest reason that one could have for such a thing. You wanted to save your family and that's something I can understand fully. And thirdly, what matters the most, in the end you decided yourself for the right path, facing the consequences. You gave us back the cordial, even if that meant that your father would die. And such a decision needs much bravery."

"That's a very forgiving point of view." Corinne smiled, thankful for Lucy's words.

"Well Susan isn't the only Gentle one." Lucy smiled back, offering her hand to Corinne to help her up.

"No, she's definitely not." Corinne said, grabbing Lucy's hand to stand up, "Thank you for everything."

"What are you going to do now?" Lucy asked caring.

Corinne took a deep breath, "I am going to go back to Anvard. I'll try to free my father and gather the people to war against the Calormen."

* * *

Peter was standing at the window watching Corinne, who was down in the courtyard, preparing to leave. She was wearing the same outfit she had worn on the day they had first met. Peter remembered that day quite well, he had dreamed of it several times in the last few days. He remembered how his heart had began beating faster when he had first caught a glimpse of her, how his skin had tingled, when he had first touched her.

"You really want to let her leave alone?" Peter suddenly heard a voice behind him and when he turned around he caught sight of his sister, who was approaching him. Susan was still wearing her night gown and a blue robe, her face still pale, but she looked better than she had done only hours before, when she had been that close to death. Peter still shivered at that thought. Without answering he turned back to look out of the window.

"You know she gave me back my bow and my arrows before and she told me that she killed Lord Delian to protect us, because she knew that he was a confederate with the Calormen and that he wanted to kill us. She said that she was sorry, that what she did was wrong. She apologized for everything. " Susan informed Peter, stepping next to him, "And I forgave her."

Peter looked at Susan surprised, "You did?"

"Yes, I did." Susan nodded, "Well everyone of us would have done the same to save one's family, wouldn't we?" Peter didn't answer, just continued watching the young woman in the courtyard thoughtfully.

"Peter, if I know one thing than it's that you shouldn't leave things unsaid. You should talk to her before it is too late." Susan advised her brother, laying one hand on his shoulder.

"Why should I?" Peter asked, anger rising in his voice.

"Because you love her." Susan simply said.

"No, I may have loved her." Peter admitted, "But the Cora I knew is gone."

* * *

"There's something I want to give you." Lucy said, fetching the cordial from under her cloak and handed it over to Corinne, who looked stunned.

The young woman hesitated one moment and then shook her head, "No, thanks. That's something I can't accept. I am going to find another way to save my father."

"Are you sure?" Lucy asked.

"Yes. Thanks for everything." Corinne said, pulling the young queen into a hug, "I am going to miss you."

"I am going to miss you too." Lucy had tears in her eyes, when she hugged her friend to say goodbye.

Corinne pulled back, wiped away a tear from her cheek and mounted her horse. Then she glanced up to the window, where Peter was standing. "I love you." she whispered into the air when she met his gaze. Then she turned her horse and rode off.

Peter watched her riding off over the countryside till she disappeared in the woods. A lonely tear escaped his eyes.

Suddenly the doors to the room were pushed open and Caspian hurried in.

"We've news from our scouts. The Calormen have crossed Narnia's borders!"

* * *

_**So here a little bit about Cora/Corinne's story. Well I guess many of you have guessed that or at least parts of it.... there is going to be more about her.  
**_

_**Tell me what you think about it, what you think about her. I would like to hear your thoughts. **_

_**And what about Peter's reaction? ...  
**_

_**And well, finally the Calormen have crossed Narnia's borders - finally the reason they had returned to Narnia, the reason why they had left Edmund and Eustace in the lurch, has come ... how will it develop - how will it end? ... **_

_**I'll try to update soon - looking forward to your reviews! :) **_

_**Oh yeah and thanks again to those who have reviewed so far - I can only say it again - your reviews are the best! ...  
**_


	13. Chapter 13: Battle Plans

_**Enjoy reading :) ... **_

* * *

Finally the war was here. Finally the reason they'd been sent back to Narnia had come. Finally the waiting had come to an end.

All of the royals approached that war with mixed feelings. On the one hand they were glad that battle was finally here. The waiting had always been the worst to them, sitting around, not able to do anything but making plans and growing fears. And they knew that fighting this war was the only way to sort things out, it was the first of many jigsaw pieces to adjust things to what they had been.

On the other hand they feared especially this. They feared getting certainty of Edmund's and Eustace's death and they feared being sent back to England again. But they knew this was a war they couldn't avoid, a war they had to fight, even if it would cost many of their lives, even if it would be their last battle.

Without losing time all of them had ridden to Aslan's How, where they had gathered all their forces. They had had a short argument, Peter and Caspian not wanting Susan to go with them, because they thought she was still too weak, but they had soon given up, knowing that they wouldn't be able to keep the gentle queen from this war.

When they arrived at the How, all of them were astonished by what they saw. Neither of them had ever seen such a large army, not even Miraz's army in the Narnian revolution had been that large.

There were men, wolves, centaurs, minotaurs, dwarfs, eagles, foxes, beavers, mice, phoenixes and many other Narnian creatures. And there was no enmity or hatred far and wide. All of them were helping each other to get ready for battle. All the hostility and antagonism the two races had had in the last time seemed to have gone.

"A common enemy unites even the oldest of foes." Peter said, smiling at the others as they rode through the masses towards the How.

* * *

"We cannot meet them on the open field. That would be our death. We need to make use of the forest." Peter confirmed, studying the cards in front of him. The Calormen had entered Narnia near the Glasswater Creek and had set up their camp there as well, but it was only a matter of time until they would intrude into Narnia further.

"But the Calormen know that we have an advantage in the forest, they won't attack us there." Caspian pointed out, tearing his hair in frustration.

"We need to trap them." Susan recommended, approaching the two kings, who looked surprised. Susan normally wasn't the one making battle plans. Just like Lucy, who always took a back seat in making battle plans, except for when she thought that they risked too much.

"What do you suggest?" Peter asked.

"We gather our forces here." she pointed at a place near the Glasswater Creek, "They will have to go through this little forest if they want to attack us. We hide small groups of archers in the trees, ready to attack them, when they don't expect us to. They will be focused on the army, their eyes will be blind for what happens within the forest."

"No!" Caspian exclaimed, "That's way too dangerous for the archers. If the Calormen find out where the arrows come from, the archers have no more chance to get out of there alive."

"Before they even notice what is happening, you and your forces will attack them." Susan concluded her plan.

"That's insane!" Caspian looked over at Peter, "Peter, tell me you are not considering this."

The High King looked at his sister thoughtfully, hesitating to tell his opinion, "Su, it's a good plan, but Caspian's right, it's too dangerous."

"Pete, you know that I am right." Susan tried to convince Peter, looking straight into his eyes, "It's the only way to trap the Calormen, they will get wind of everything else. This is something they won't expect."

"Then we'll have to defeat them in an open battle. We have a large army with brave men. We can defeat them." Caspian pointed out.

Susan shook her head, "No, we mustn't underestimate the Calormen! Their army is at least as big as ours and they are more experienced in battle."

Peter still looked thoughtfully from his sister to Caspian, "And I guess you would like to lead that group?"

"Well it's only reasonable that the best archer leads the group, isn't it?" Susan nodded.

Caspian gasped for air, not able to believe what he had just heard, "You nearly died yesterday and now you want to betake yourself into certain death?"

"You cannot keep me away from this war." Susan shouted, with tears in her eyes, "You know that this is the reason, we were sent back to Narnia. This is our war to fight! And we need to win it, not only for Narnia and for Aslan, but also for Edmund, Eustace and for ourselves."

"We don't want to keep you from this fight." Peter tried to calm down his sister.

"Well I do." Caspian whispered silently, receiving an admonitory gaze from Peter.

"But we mustn't risk the life of brave men." Peter continued, "If you hide in the trees, you can't wear an amour, because that would flash through the branches. And that way you are an easy target."

"We can were green tunics over the amour. That way they won't notice us until you and your troops attack them." Susan suggested.

Now Peter didn't know what else to say against it. No matter how little he liked the idea of his sister in the middle of all those Calormen, he knew he wouldn't be able to keep her from fighting and he knew that her plan was a good one.

"Well it's not my decision to make." Peter looked over at Caspian, "Caspian is the current king."

Susan also turned around to face Caspian, looking pleasing straight into his dark brown eyes.

"No! That's too dangerous. No." his voice grew more and more unsteady with every moment he looked into Susan's eyes, "No."

"Caspian, please!" Susan pleaded, laying one hand on his chest, "I will fight in this war no matter how you decide. I will risk my life no matter how you decide. The only thing that you decide is how effective it will be. Caspian, please."

Caspian sighed, "That's not fair. You know I cannot refuse you."

"Is it fair that you decide such a kingly matter on personal feelings?" Susan counter questioned.

Caspian sighed again, looking over at Peter, who nodded in agreement. "I will agree upon two conditions." he finally said.

"And that are?" Susan inquired, already smiling, knowing that she had won.

"Firstly, that I will hide with you in the trees to protect you." Caspian told them smiling.

"I don't think that that's such a great idea, Caspian." Peter objected, "It will arouse suspicion, when you aren't amongst your forces."

Caspian's expression darkened again, but before he could say anything, Susan suggested something else, "I am sure, Trumpkin would like to join the archers and I can stay close to him."

Caspian hesitated for a short moment, "But you need to promise me to look after yourself. Don't play the heroine. I won't forgive myself if anything would happen to you."

Susan hugged him, whispering, "And you look after yourself as well."

"And what is the second condition?" Susan asked, when she pulled back from him.

Caspian grinned, "I would like a kiss."

Susan smiled, tiptoed and covered his lips with hers. Peter turned around nerved, shaking his head, when he suddenly noticed, that Lucy had gone.

* * *

Lucy hated it. She had never had a say when they were talking about battle plans. She had already given up telling the others her opinion. She held that a war settled nothing, whether if they would win him or not. In a war nobody is the winner, everybody loses, not only land or authority but also men, lives. After a war everything is in disaster – the nature, the life of families, who have lost somebody.

But it wouldn't have changed anything, if she had told them this. So she had decided to take the matters into her own hand. They hadn't even noticed when she had left and now she was riding through the woods, just like she had been together with Susan, when they had been to Narnia the last time, searching for Aslan.

But with every minute she was losing the hope that she would find him like she had done the last time. Well deep in her heart, she had known that it wouldn't be that easy this time. Aslan had told her, that nothing was happening the same way twice, but she had needed to try.

Suddenly she heard horses behind her and when she turned around she spotted some Calormen soldiers. Maybe riding alone hadn't been such a great idea after all.

She spurred her horse, ducking her hand close to the horse's body, to elude the arrows that the soldiers were shooting at her.

She heard how once of the arrows hit the back of her horse, then a second and then suddenly the horse's leg became too weak and it sank to the ground, while Lucy fell to the hard forest soil.

When she looked up, the soldiers had already surrounded her, holding out their swords towards her. Then all of a sudden the young queen heard a battle cry and caught sight of a group of men that rode towards them, attacking the soldiers.

* * *

_**Well a shorter chapter and again a filler chapter ... hope you liked it nevertheless ... **_

_**I know the idea with the archer in the trees isn't exactly a new one but I kind of liked it ... **_

_**Leave me a review and tell me what you think about - even if it's just one word or sentence or what else it will make my day a thousand times better :) .. **_

_**thanks again to those who reviewed to far :) ... I love to read your thoughts! **_

_**I'll try to update soon :) ... **_


	14. Chapter 14: Battle Against Fate

_**I am very sorry for the long waiting - but I am learning day and night for my final exams this year ... Enjoy reading! :) **_

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"Please, Susan, can you stop chasing around? It makes everybody nervous." Caspian asked in a low voice, watching the gentle queen as she strode through the tunnels.

Susan stopped and looked around, "There's nobody here but the two of us."

Caspian approached her, "Well, it's making me nervous." he laid one hand on her shoulder and tried to comfort her, "I am sure Lucy's fine. Peter will find her."

"And what if not? What if something happens to her?" Susan asked, not looking like the warrior queen, Caspian used to know, but rather a fragile young woman, "I just can't lose her as well."

Caspian couldn't stand seeing her like that, that sad and sorrowful. "Well firstly, Lucy knows the woods like no one else here; she has the dryads and the animals helping her, Aslan watching over her. Nothing is going to happen to her. And secondly, you haven't lost anyone so far, your brother is still out there, somewhere."

"But I am going to lose everything. Even if we win this war, I am losing everything. My home, my friends, you..." Susan looked up at Caspian with tears in her eyes.

Caspian embosomed here, stroking her hair gently, "As you said, as long as we love each other, we will always carry each other in our hearts. All you will have to do is look into your heart and you will find me there. And all I have to do is look into mine to find you."

"And what if that's not enough for me?" Susan asked, pulling back from him to look into his eyes.

As Caspian looked into Susan's face, the face that he had seen every night in his dreams for the past few years, the face he had seen everytime he had closed his eyes, with those gorgeous sapphire blue eyes, the pale skin as soft and white as snow, the full lips as red as blood, he noticed that it wouldn't be enough for him either. He noticed that he didn't want to spend any minute of his life without her again.

And so he did the one thing, he had thought about since the first time, they had met. He dropped on his knee and took Susan's hand with one hand.

Susan gasped for breathe, her eyes widened. Was he really doing what she thought he did?

"If I could have just one wish, I would wish to wake up every day to the sound of your breath on my neck, to the warmth of your lips on my cheek, the touch of your fingers on my skin,  
and the feel of your heart beating with mine. If I could have just this one wish, I would wish for a life with you, for I don't want to spend it without you." Caspian took a deep breath, "I am not doing this because I am desperate but because I love you with all my heart. Susan Pevensie, Queen of Narnia, queen of my heart, will you marry me?"

Susan could feel her heart beating faster at his words, she felt how she couldn't breathe anymore, she felt how the tears ran down her cheek faster than before, she felt how she withdrew her hand from his, not able to bear his touch and she felt how her heart battled with her mind, fighting for her love. But she knew this was a battle she couldn't win. A battle against fate, against destiny without any chance to win it.

And so she did the one thing that she thought was best, not only for herself but for everybody. Even if she would break the hearts of two persons in the process, she knew that in the long run this would cost less hurt for everybody.

"I am sorry, but I can't."

* * *

"Edmund!" Lucy cried, running into the arms of her older brother.

Edmund hugged his sister tightly and grinned, "And who saves the day? It's King Edmund, the Just, always there to save young beautiful maids."

When he heard one of his companions clearing his throat behind him he added, "And of course his brave assistant, Eustace, and their fellowship."

Lucy ran over to her cousin to hug him as well, jumping joyfully, "Oh thank Aslan. You're fine. We were so worried. What happened? How did you get here?"

Before her older brother could explain any further, they heard horses approaching and Edmund quickly hustled his sister and himself behind the next tree, covering her mouth with his hand. Eustace and the others immediately took cover as well.

But when Edmund heard a familiar voice calling Lucy, the smile on his face grew even wider. He popped out from behind the tree, shouting, "SURPRISE!"

Peter's horse reared up, surprised by the sudden stranger in front of him. Peter, surprised and shocked as well, lost his grip on the reins and fell back with a startled cry, clattering painfully onto the forest ground.

Still lying on the ground, the High King rubbed his eyes not believing what he saw. "You're... you're really....Is that really you?" he stammered.

Edmund approached his brother, holding out one hand to help him up, "Hello Pete, do you find the normal way to get off a horse too boring?"

Peter just stared at his younger brother for a second speechless then he took his hand, stood up and smiled, "Well, I thought I give you a little show for a welcome."

"It's good to see you." Peter hugged his younger brother, trying to hide the tears in his eyes.

* * *

"What?" Caspian couldn't believe, what he had just heard. For such a long time he had dreamed of this moment, of their marriage, of a live with the woman he loved. But he had never imagined it like that. He had always known that it would never come true, because they were not destined to be together, because they had different worlds to live in, but he had never thought that, if they had the opportunity, even if the chance was that little that they would be able to be together, that she would say no.

Nothing in his life had ever hurt him that much as her last answer. Susan saw the plain hurt in the eyes of the man she loved and closed her eyes to repeat, what was the hardest thing she had ever had to say, "I cannot marry you."

"But why? I thought you loved me?" Caspian whispered unbelievable, still on his knees, not able to rise from the ground.

Susan took a deep breath and nodded, "Yes, I do and I would like to be with you the rest of my life. But this is not about what I want, this is about what I can. And I am not supposed to be with you, I am not supposed to live in this world. Sooner or later I am going to leave Narnia and it won't help pretending anything else. If I say yes now, how long would it be until we get separated again? And getting separated then will hurt even more than ruling it off now."

"We don't know what the future holds for us. We've to live for today and not fear tomorrow." Caspian tried to convince her, "Our love can overcome everything. I know this. Please, have trust in our love."

Susan hesitated and looked into Caspian's chocolate brown eyes and Caspian could see how she battled with herself, how her heart battled with her mind once again and when he saw the love she felt for him flickering in her glassy blue eyes, he thought that he had won. He thought that their love had won but within the next moment all his hopes were destroyed.

Susan withdrew her hand from his and shook her head, "No. I am sorry but I just can't." And with this she ran out of the tunnel crying, leaving a desperate Caspian on the ground.

When she came out of the tunnels, she suddenly bumped into somebody and when she looked up, she caught glimpse of a person that had been missing for too long.

"Hello Su." Edmund said, smiling at his sister, "I am back." Susan said nothing, but just threw her arms around him and hugged him, sobbing into his chest.

"Well, I hoped for a warm welcome, but all those tears really aren't necessary." Edmund joked, pulling back from his sister to look into her eyes, "Is everything alright, Su?"

"Did anything happen?" Peter stepped next to Edmund, looking alarmed.

Susan wiped away her tears and tried to smile, "No, no. I am just so happy to see you again." she assured them, "I thought you were dead." she added whispering.

"Well I am not that easy to get rid of." Edmund grinned, "Besides what should have become of little Eustace here if I had died."

"Hey! I rescued you." Eustace pointed out, clearing his throat.

"I didn't need your rescue." Edmund answered back, still grinning.

Susan looked surprised at the person that was now standing next to Edmund, not able to believe that this was her whining, annoying, little cousin Eustace. He looked calm and confident with himself, the sword resting in his hand, like it had always belonged there.

She gave her cousin a big smile and hugged him as well, "It's good to see you, cousin."

Suddenly Caspian appeared from the tunnels to look what was going on, having heard the loud voice and when he caught sight of Edmund and Eustace his face suddenly light up, even though his eyes still looked sorrowful.

"Hey, Caspian!" Edmund shouted, "Your live-saver is back."

Caspian approached Edmund and Eustace, looking a bit embarrassed, "It's good to see you well and back."

"And who are these people?" Susan asked as she noticed one older, noble-looking man and three rather young soldiers behind her siblings.

"They are friends from Archenland." Edmund stepped back next to the older man, "Su, may I present to you King Nain, King of Archenland."

Susan looked stunned at the king, who greeted her with a nod. He was tall, his hair short and grey, his face full of wrinkles and around his smiling mouth there was a white beard. And as she looked at him she noticed his familiar deep green eyes.

"So you're ... you're Cora's ... eh I mean Corinne's father?" the gentle queen asked, looking at Peter, who nodded.

"Yes I am, your majesty. And I am very thankful for your help in freeing my country."

"Your majesty!" they suddenly heard an approaching soldier shouting, "Our negotiator is back."

Caspian was the first to stand next to the horse, the negotiator was on. "We need the cordial!" he shouted as he helped the injured man off the horse. The soldier had a severe wound at his side, his arm was bent, his face scarred.

Lucy was immediately at his side, taking care of his wounds with the cordial. The man looked immediately better, but still weak. "He needs to rest, but he'll be okay." Lucy said, smiling at the soldier.

"Thank you, your majesty." He breathed out, still too weak to talk and handed over a paper roll to Caspian before two of his comrades helped him up to take him to the healer's tent.

Caspian opened the paper roll and began to read it out loud.

"Narnians, surrender and swear an oath to follow the Tisroc of Calormen and your lives will be spared. Otherwise we'll destroy you. Long lives the Tisroc, Prince Cain of ..." Caspian stopped and reread the last words, not believing who had signed the note, "Prince Cain of Archenland..."

Everybody looked stunned at King Nain, who lowered his head and looked to the ground. Edmund stepped next to his new friend and patted him on the bag, "Did I forget to tell you that Prince Cain of Archenland is leading the Calormen army?"

* * *

**Well Prince Cain of Archenland - any guesses concerning him? :) ... As always I would love to hear your thoughts ... **

**And I hope that you don't dislike Susan after this chapter ... and that you don't think it annoying that she is constantly changing her mind about Caspian and so on .. but I just want to show how insecure she is about all this - how much she was hurt the last time and that she don't want to ever feel like this again ...Actually I thought a long time about deleting the engagement part but yeah ... if you don't like it just delete it from your memories and pretend it never happened ;) ... **

**Anyway I am trying to update soon - but I can't promise anything for I have much to study ... **

**Oh yeah and reviews would motivate me to update sooner - thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter - everytime I was sick of studying I looked at them and they motivated me once more .. :)**


	15. Chapter 15: Do not Fear the Future

_**I am very sorry for the long waiting :S ... I just had my final exams at university (and I passed them all yay :)) so I really hadn't any time to write. But the good news is that summer break is here (at least in Austria ;)) and I have just one more paper to write and then I have more time to write :) ... **_

_**Well I would like to dedicate this chapter to Jill G. Lowrey, who is betaing this story from this chapter on (so it's thanks to her that there are less mistakes ;)) ... thanks for the corrections and all your input concerning the plot :) ... **_

_**Enjoy reading everyone :) ... **_

**

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**

"So your son allied with the Calormen against his own people, against his own father?" Susan asked, being the first one to break the silence.

"I am afraid so." King Nain conceded looking up, meeting the disbelieving gazes of the others with guilt in his eyes.

"Well every one of us knows how easily someone can be tempted by power, don't we?" Edmund defended their new confederate.

"But your daughter told us that her brother was dead." Peter stated, not able to mention her name. His eyes looked sad. Had she lied to him yet again?

"Well to an extent that is true. The man who is leading the Calormen army isn't the son and brother we knew. Three months ago my son's wife died during childbirth. It was a stillborn." King Nain started to explain, bitterness in his voice, "My son loved his wife more than anything in the whole world and he couldn't get over her death. From the moment she died, he changed into an entirely new person. That day, the son that I knew died."

The older king paused, taking a deep breath. Everyone looked at him spellbound; everyone except Caspian who could not tear his eyes away from Susan. He imagined losing her like that. He remembered how hard it had been to be apart from her, but he had at least known that she was well, that she was alive. How much harder must it be to know that the person you love is dead, that there isn't the smallest change you will see her again?

"In his anger he joined with the Calormen to overthrow me" the old man continued, "We didn't see them coming. They attacked us in the cover of the night. I was imprisoned and everyone who didn't swear an oath to follow the Tisroc was killed. The Tisroc and my son intended to conquer Narnia as well. From their spy at your castle, they knew that the king was currently searching for the seven lost lords. So they sent out a ship to attack you and to capture the king to destabilize Narnia."

"So it was the Calormen who attacked us when Edmund fell into the sea?" Caspian asked.

"Yes, it was." Edmund answered, continuing the tale, "They found us in the water afterwards and unfortunately I introduced myself as King Edmund from Narnia. They thought they had captured the one they were searching for and sailed back to Archenland, where we were imprisoned. There they learned that I wasn't the current king of Narnia, so they sent somebody else to destabilize the lead."

"Cora..." Lucy whispered, everything falling into place.

King Nain nodded, "My daughter asked to be sent, because she thought that she might be able to adjust things. She thought that your powerful weapons, of which they both, her brother and her, had heard much about in their childhood, might satisfy his thirst for power or that your cordial might heal his psychotic pain. Corinne still believed that there was something good in him. She couldn't believe that the brother she had looked up to for all her life, who had always been there for her, had changed into such a monster."

Susan looked at Peter with tears in her eyes, touched by the sad story. She imagined what she would have done herself if Peter had turned into such a monster. What could be worse than to have your own brother as an enemy? She glanced over at Edmund, remembering the time when he had betrayed them to the white witch. Luckily, he hadn't gone as far as Corinne's brother.

"And we sent her away..." Lucy said, looking at Peter who kept his gaze on the ground, "We shouldn't have sent her away alone. She's in danger out there in the woods. We have to search for her." Lucy worried about her friend. She had always known that Cora hadn't intended to hurt them. She had understood what Cora had done, even though she would not have done it in the same way.

"My daughter knows how to defend herself. And even if the Calormen catch her, I am sure that Cain won't do anything to her. He may have changed but he would never hurt her, not even now." King Nain assured them, "It's more important to make ready for battle. No matter how much I wished this day would never have come, the Calormen will attack soon and they will not spare anyone."

"We will show you what we've worked out so far," Caspian offered, "but I would first like to know how you escaped."

"Well it was Eustace really who freed us." Edmund said as he gave his cousin a pat on the back appreciatively.

The young man looked a bit embarrassed, "Well it wasn't that difficult. I overpowered one of the soldiers when he brought us something to eat. From then on it was rather easy. Most of the soldiers had gone to Narnia and out of those who remained some were still loyal to their king."

"Are you sure that these men are loyal to you and that there isn't another spy among them?" Peter asked suspiciously, pointing at the few soldiers behind the King of Archenland.

"Peter!" Susan flashed Peter an admonitory glance.

"I stand surely for them with my life." King Nain assured them, his voice still friendly but definite.

"Then I had better show you what we've planned so far." Caspian said quickly, not wanting a fight to break out between the High King and their new ally.

King Nain nodded and entered the tunnels with Caspian. When the others followed as well, Susan grabbed Peter's arm, stopping him, "I need to talk to you."

Peter stopped but didn't turn to face his sister. Susan waited until the others were gone, then in a gentle voice, she said, "You have to forgive her."

"That's none of your business." Peter said with a trembling voice, his back still to Susan.

"Yes, it is my business. You're my brother and I love you. I don't want you to suffer. Don't stand in your own light. Forget the grief, forget the anger. Live every day as if it was your last. What would you do if you knew that you would die tomorrow? Wouldn't you want to tell her that you love..."

"She lied to me! She betrayed me! I loved her! I trusted her but she betrayed my trust!" Peter finally turned, shouting, tears of anger and grief in his eyes, "Tell me, do you betray and lie to persons that you love?"

Susan was shocked when she met her brother's gaze. In his eyes she didn't see grief and pain but rather hate and anger. "Well to be honest I would lie to anyone, if it was for the sake of someone that I love. I would lie to Caspian if it was for your sake, or Lucy's or Edmund's. And if you are honest to yourself you would do it as well. You would do anything to protect your family even if you hurt somebody that you love. Otherwise you aren't the brother that I know..." she paused, a lonely tear escaping her eyes, "Please tell me that I haven't lost you."

When Peter saw his sister sobbing, he calmed down and hugged her, "Of course I am still the brother that you know. I'll always be there for you. I would do anything to protect you. You know that."

He stepped back and looked into her eyes once more. The hate was gone. "But I cannot forgive her. At least, not right now." He added whispered, before he turned and entered the tunnels.

Susan sighed and turned to the fields, her eyes wandering across them, watching the soldiers prepare for battle.

"Live every day as if it was your last, quite good advice that you gave your brother." Eustace suddenly stepped next to his cousin, who looked at him surprised.

"Yes, I guess it really is." Susan said thoughtfully, looking into the distance again.

"Aslan gave me a message for you." the young man said suddenly, not mincing matters.

"What?" Susan was stunned.

"He appeared to me in the dungeon and before helped us to escape he gave me a message for you." Eustace repeated in a calm voice.

"Why didn't you tell everyone?" Susan asked, wondering why Aslan had especially appeared to Eustace, who was in Narnia for the first time.

"I didn't tell them because they aren't supposed to know. His words were only meant for you." Eustace explained, finally looking at her.

"And what did he say?" Susan asked, not really sure if she even wanted to know the answer.

"The future does not belong to fear. It belongs to freedom."

Susan looked irritated, "What does he mean by that?"

"I think it is as simple as it sounds."

* * *

_**Well that's it ... another shorter chapter and another kind of filler chapter - for those of you who are waiting for the war to come - it's coming soon promise!! **_

_**Well the chapter is mostly about the story of the royals from Archenland - I thought about that quite a long time - especially how to picture Prince Cain and his story and with him Cora's/Corinne's story - finally chose to make it like this - well what do you think about it? **_

_**For those of you who were disappointed by Edmund's and Eustace's arrival - I know that their arrival took kind of a back seat because of the appearance of King Nain and the introduction of Prince Cain and I am very sorry for that, but even though I never intended this, the story kind of centers the older two Pevensie children - Susan and Peter (and with them Caspian and Cora) and so the introduction of those two characters were kind of important ... BUT there's going to be more about Eustace and Edmund - so look forward to that. **_

_**Concerning Eustace there's one more thing to say - **__my describtion of his character is rather different than in the books. At describing his character I am really bad – I just never really had a picture of him in my head. So I just decided to make him kind of the voice through which Aslan is talking to them, kind of the voice of sense or of rationality... I just hope that doesn't bother you too much. _

_****__Yeah that's it for now - I hope you enjoyed reading - I try to hurry up with the next chapter :) ... _

_****__PS: As always I would like to hear your thoughts about the chapter ;) and as always I would like to thank those who reviewed so far. I just love all of your reviews!! :) ...  
_


	16. Chapter 16: War for Fate

_**Well finally here it is the next chapter - I am really sorry for keeping you waiting ... summer break is here and my life seems to be busier than before ;) **_

_**Thanks to Jill G. Lowry for beta reading the chapter :) ... and thanks to everybody who left a review on the last chapter :) - loved to read them. **_

_**So enjoy reading!!**_

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As Edmund watched his siblings he realized how much he had missed them. He realized that they were the one thing that made Narnia feel like home for him. It wasn't the fact that he was a king in Narnia, it was not the fact that he had befriended many talking beasts nor was it the fact that he had spent most of his lifetime in Narnia that made him feel at home. It was the presence of his siblings. They were his family, they were the people without whom he could not spend his life, they were the ones he cared most about and who cared most about him.

Right now they were discussing various battle plans, though Edmund normally put his heart and soul in making battle plans, being the best at making strategic plans, he took a back seat this time, too busy watching his siblings.

Even though every one of them tried to hide their feelings, putting their own needs back for the greater good as they had always done when kings and queens, Edmund could tell that all of them had some feelings to struggle with.

Lucy was constantly interjecting that the plans were too dangerous and too risky. It was obvious to Edmund that she wasn't content with the situation, that, as always, she wanted to prevent a war that she didn't want to risk the life of that many brave men and animals, that she wanted to wait for Aslan. And even though Edmund had always admired and supported her faith in Aslan, knowing that she had a special bond with him, he knew that this time the war was unavoidable and that this war decided the future of them all.

And it was exactly that decision about their future that Susan feared, a future she wasn't able to decide on her own, a future without the man she loved, a future without Caspian and Narnia. She was talking to King Nain, wanting to know everything about their new enemies. She was looking everywhere but at Caspian, who was constantly looking at her, love and longing but also sadness in his gaze. Something had happened between those two, something other than the obvious, something they were both sad and embarrassed about. Edmund could tell that from the way Caspian looked at his sister and the way Susan avoided his gaze.

And then there was Peter, who kept himself in the background, which was something he normally never did. He had changed, he seemed more mature but also hurt and obviously it had something to do with the princess of Archenland. Edmund could see it in the look of his face everytime her name fell. It seemed she had betrayed Peter's trust, causing him to constantly question the reliability and the trustworthiness of the people from Archenland.

"And where is the Tisroc in all that?" Susan asked, a question that attracted Edmund's attention.

"That is a question I have been asking myself constantly. He was at Anvard shortly after they invaded Archenland but left within a few days. I do not know where he went, but I doubt he returned to Calormen." King Nain stated looking a bit worried.

"Let us not worry about things we can only assume. We need to concentrate on the war that is imminent." Eustace stepped in.

Edmund nodded, "Eustace is right. This war decides about our future. We need to win it!"

"But at what price?" Lucy asked, shaking her head.

* * *

When Lucy ran out of the tunnels after they had finished discussing matters, Edmund followed. She stopped on a cliff with an overview of the men and creatures gathered in front of the How.

Edmund stepped next to her, "You are not going to ride off again, are you?" He tried to joke, but Lucy didn't even smile.

"I saved most of these people's life when I rode off three years ago," the young queen said, remembering the day she had found Aslan in the woods, "I was right at that time even though nobody believed me at first."

"Like Aslan said, nothing happens the same way twice." Edmund pointed out, turning to face his little sister, "This time it is different. Why do you think Susan and Peter were allowed to return? Do you think Aslan would have changed his mind if not for a reason? This war is a test, a test to prove their faith in him even though he is not with them, a test to prove their loyalty to Narnia. Something has changed their fate and it is still changing..."

"So we are fighting this war, we are risking all of these brave men's lives just because Susan and Peter may stay in Narnia?" Lucy asked with anger in her voice, "That is just not fair!"

"No, we are not fighting because of Su's and Pete's fate" Edmund shook his head, "We fight for equality, for freedom and for justice. We fight for those who can't fight on their own. We fight to protect our people. We fight for Narnia and for Aslan like we always did, like we will always do. Think of the Golden Age, Lucy. Aslan hadn't always been there when we fought wars, because we always had faith in Him and He had always had faith in us as well. Sometimes we have to fight on our own, not because we have lost our faith in Him or because He has lost his faith in us, just because sometimes we have to decide about our own destiny, sometimes our future is upon us. And deep down in your heart you know that we are not fighting this war tomorrow because we have lost our faith but because we want to prove our faith in Aslan."

When Lucy finally turned to face Edmund, she had tears in her eyes, "I am sorry, Ed. I should not have doubted your faith in Aslan. Maybe you are right. This war is a way to prove our faith. I guess I just fear that any of you loses his faith. I am truly sorry..."

"Well after all you are the youngest one. You can't always be the wisest one." Edmund joked and this time it worked.

* * *

Finally the day, the hour, the minute had come, the time that would decide everybody's destiny was finally here, the day that would decide Narnia's future and the future of the kings and queens of old, although they didn't even know this.

While Peter, King Nain and Eustace stayed with the forces in front of the wood, Caspian, Edmund and some of the soldiers had accompanied the archers into the woods, to help them up in the trees. Lucy was back at the How waiting with the eagles for their attack.

Edmund watched his sister, who looked a bit disturbed, "Is everything alright, Su?"

"Yes, it's just... I don't know. Maybe this plan wasn't such a good plan after all." Susan worried, "I mean maybe it's really too risky, too dangerous... I don't fear for myself, but I don't want to be responsible for the death of so many good men." She looked around, watching the men as they made ready for the battle.

"Don't worry, Su. It's a good plan. Everything will be alright." Edmund tried to comfort her.

Susan hugged her brother, "Thanks Edmund."

"Watch after yourself, Su. And don't play the heroine." Edmund grinned, "That's my job." he added joking.

Susan smiled, "Edmund, the heroine, indeed. It's good to have you back, Ed." She turned to Trumpkin, who was standing behind her, "Are you ready, DLF?"

"I am always at your back." the dwarf answered, "But you'd better get up first."

Susan nodded, "Can you boost me up?" she asked her younger brother.

"I guess I am not tall enough. You better asked Caspian." Edmund suggested, looking around, searching for Caspian. Before Susan could even object, he spotted the young man, who was currently helping somebody else up in the trees and shouted, "Hey Caspian, can you help us over here?"

Caspian came over slouchy and when Susan met his gaze, seeing his dark brown eyes that sorrowful and sad, she felt guilty that she had hurt him that much.

"Can you boost Susan up?" Edmund asked.

"Of course." Caspian bent over and cupped his hands for her boot. Susan hesitated for one moment, then stepped towards him, placed her foot in his hands and laid her hands on his shoulders to steady herself. They both lifted up and Susan reached for the first branch.

Once she sat on the first branch, she helped Trumpkin up, who immediately climbed higher until he was barely visible through the leaves.

Susan turned around once more, looking at Caspian, "Thanks."

Caspian just nodded, "Come back safe." Then he turned around and walked away.

As Susan watched him walking away, she wanted so badly to call after him. She thought of what Aslan had said: The future does not belong to fear. It belongs to freedom. Maybe this meant that she was free to decide about her future, free to decide where to be and with whom, free to choose her destiny.

But as she opened her mouth, no sound came out of it. This was neither the right place nor the right time to think about that. They were in war; she needed to concentrate on that.

She climbed higher and settled into her post next to Trumpkin.

"Tell the others not to shoot before the sign." Susan said quietly to Trumpkin, who passed the information on to the other archers.

Then there was silence. The archers now needed to be completely silent in order to not be seen by the Calormen army, which would come soon.

In the meantime Edmund and Caspian had returned to Peter, King Nain and Eustace, who had gathered the army in front of the forest. They moved their horses next to Peter's and watched as the Calormen slowly emerged between the trees. Their army was indeed gigantic.

Susan watched the Calormen soldiers through the little gaps between the leaves, feeling a bit uncomfortable, thinking of herself between those amounts of enemies. She took a deep breath and fit an arrow to the string. She nodded towards Trumpkin, who moved his hand to his mouth and imitated the cry of an owl, the sign they had agreed on.

Then Queen Susan the Gentle released the first arrow and the war for their fate began.

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_**So the war began - finally - next chapter will be all about it :) ... **_

_**What else to say about this chapter - it's kind of a chapter from Edmund's point of view - everyone of siblings had such a chapter so I thought it would only be fair if he had one as well :) ... **_

_**not really much important stuff or new stuff in this chapter - so again a filler chapter .. but next chapter will be a very important one! :)**_

_**Well I hope you enjoyed reading - as always I would like to hear your thoughts about it. **_

_**Oh and if anyone is interested I made a video about the Pevensies and Caspian a while ago - it's on youtube and it's called Narnia - Caspian & Susan - Come Home (unfortunately I can't make a link ...) - it's not related to this story but maybe you'll enjoy to watch it :) **_

_**Well I am looking forward to hearing from you - and next chapter will be sooner than this one - promise! :) **_


	17. Chapter 17: A Call for Help

**_hey guys :) - well first of all I am really sorry for the long long waiting :S - I know I promised that I would hurry up with this chapter but yeah .. something happenend and I really didn't have any motivation to either write or read ... but now I am back - back in black! ;) _**

**_I just read all of your reviews and they really motivated me to write again - so thank you so much! I won't be able to answer all of them right now - but I will get back to them! ... _**

**_So here it is - the next chapter. I have to warn you - it is neither the chapter that you expect (at least I guess) nor the chapter that I intended to write - something new came to my mind. I hope you like it nevertheless. _**

**_as always, enjoy reading!_**

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Peter turned his horse towards the Narnian forces and screamed, "War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight for, the person with nothing more important to him than his own personal safety is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free. So Narnians fight! By all that you hold dear in this world! Fight!" Peter turned his horse facing the enemy and yelled "For Aslan and for Narnia!"

Thousands of men and creatures ran, galloped or spurred their horses towards the forest, their swords ready to fight, screaming, "For Aslan and for Narnia!"

By the time they reached the forest hundreds of Calormen had already been killed by the brave archers. But Susan and her comrades hadn't been unnoticed. For a while there had been chaos, but the Calormen had soon discovered from where the killing arrows came. Susan tried her best to shoot everybody down who pointed towards them, but they had superiority over them.

Soon arrows started to thread through the canopy. Susan saw dead Narnian bodies hitting the Calormen soldiers. Where were the Narnian riders? They were supposed to be here by now.

Suddenly she heard hoof beats and then Peter's voice, "Protect the archers!"

Susan breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly, an arrow hurtled through the thicket towards her, ducking she just escaped. _That was a close shave _she thought as she suddenly became unbalanced and fell.

She screamed, knowing that she was twenty feet up in the trees and masses of enemies were awaiting her on the ground. She barely registered the sensation of falling, already thinking of continuing the fight hand-to-hand. But it didn't get that far.

Susan landed safely in Caspian's arms. He arrived just in time on Destrier's back to catch her.

"I have you." he whispered, pulling her against his chest, so that she felt his muscles and his heart beating fast. This was really her favourite place in the world, never had she felt more secure than now, even if she was surrounded by a battle.

"I know that." Susan said, looking straight into his eyes. And for a moment they were both gone, forgetting the battle around them, just looking at each other. And then reality caught them again.

Destrier reared and they both fell to the ground, immediately being attacked by Calormen soldiers. As Susan fought back-to-back with Caspian she thought again about Aslan's words. The future belongs to freedom. Maybe she should just...

She shot another soldier down and turned to Caspian. Plucking up her courage, she grabbed his arm and shouted, "Caspian! I need to ask you something!"

Caspian took another soldier out and turned to face Susan, "Can't that wait until later?"

Susan shook her head, "No, it can't! Caspian the Tenth, King of Narnia, Emperor of the..." her voice died off as she shot a soldier, who attacked Caspian from the back, but then continued shouting, "Damn it! Will you marry me?"

"What?" Caspian asked, taken aback by what she had just asked.

"I want to be with you the rest of my life. I want to fight for our love. So will you marry me, Caspian?" Susan shouted, shooting an arrow at an attacking soldier.

"Down!" Caspian suddenly screamed and as Susan bend down, he fought off a soldier at her back, who had just wanted to tuck his sword into her.

"I have made my choice. And I wanna be with you. What about you?" Susan asked, rising from the ground again.

Caspian pulled her close to him, so that an arrow went past her only inches away from her head. He brought her face up to his, placing one hand on her cheek and whispered, "Of course, I want to marry you, love of my life." And then he covered her mouth with his and kissed her passionately.

And again the world around them melted apart, the time seemed to have stopped and Susan felt like she would fly. She felt how the hurt that she had felt in her heart for the last months had gone and she felt happiness flooding her body.

Suddenly they heard Edmund's voice from some feet away, "Get a room!"

They broke apart and laughed, both beaming with joy and together they continued fighting the enemy back-to-back, with a new energy, they hadn't known before.

* * *

In the meantime Peter was fighting further in the front of the battle, watching as the Narnians fought off the invaders, when he suddenly noticed that there was something amiss. He noticed the number of their enemies was far fewer than the combined forces of Calormen and Archenland should have been. Moreover they hadn't any combat machines or any tactical strategies.

And he noticed who was missing. Lucy and the eagles should have come into the mission quite a long time ago, at the beginning really. They would have been throwing rocks at their enemies. But there hadn't been any signs of them and the battle was nearly over.

He remembered the conversation they had had with King Nain. The Tisroc had been at Anvard shortly after they had invaded Archenland but had left within a few days. King Nain hadn't known where he had gone but he had doubted that the Tisroc had returned to Calormen. So maybe this battle had just been a trap. Maybe...

Suddenly he knew where Lucy had gone and the thought sent shivers down his spine.

He heard a loud noise that sounded like a bugle but richer. It was a noise that Peter had heard quite often in his life, a noise that called for help. A call Peter had always answered.

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_**So this was it - I know it was a very short one and it's also not the thrilling battle that you've expected - but as I said I had some new ideas and I really like them and I hope that you are going to like them as well. :) **_

_** Some of you may not like the way Caspian and Susan become engaged - I know it isn't the typical romantic and kitchy style (I usually love that one!) but I thought it needed to be something else this time ... I guess everybody of you knows which movie inspired me ... and well I would like to hear your thoughts about it - not only about the engagement thing but about the whole chapter. So please leave a review ... **_

_**Well I am hurrying up with the next chapter but I can't (and I will not) promise anything - university has started again - exams are coming up (isn't it weird that I am most motivated everytime shortly before the exams ... ;)) ... **_

_**PS: thanks to **__**Jill G. Lowrey for correcting and all your input - always love to read your mails! ...  
**_


	18. Chapter 18: The Choices we make

_**Well, finally here it is - the next chapter - I am really sorry that it took me more than 6 weeks ... I just could find neither the time nor the motivation to write .. **_

_**moreover i rewrote this chapter several times ... but no more excuses - enjoy reading!  
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Shocked, Susan turned when she heard the sound of the horn. Automatically her hand moved to her belt but the horn wasn't there. She left it with her younger sister at the How in case something unexpected happened. But the sound came from too far away and from a different direction. It had to be at...

"Su!" she suddenly heard Edmund some feet away.

"Ed! I left the horn with Lucy!" Edmund mounted the horse next to him and Susan turned to face Caspian, who had grabbed Destrier's reins.

"No!" Susan shook her head, "you have to stay here. Somebody needs to guide the troops to Cair Parvavel after this battle and neither King Nain nor Eustace are authority enough to do so. Wait in the woods in front of the castle for a sign."

Caspian nodded, disappointed but understanding, "I love you."

Edmund came up to them, offering Susan his hand. "I love you too." Susan gave Caspian a quick kiss before she grabbed Edmund's hand and mounted the horse behind him.

Edmund spurred the horse, leaving Caspian in a cloud of dust.

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Peter rode as fast as he could towards Cair Paravel. When he emerged from the woods, he saw what he had feared. The Calormen flag was flying above the Castle.

Without hesitation he galloped towards the castle gate, "I am High King Peter the Magnificent, Emperor of the Lone Islands, Lord of Cair Paravel, Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Lion and I asked for entrance to my castle!"

Silently, the door in front of him opened. Peter took a deep breath, just as he was going to spur his horse into the castle; he heard another horse behind him. He looked around and saw Edmund and Susan approaching. They stopped next to him without saying a word but from the expressions on their faces Peter could tell that they had the same thoughts as he had.

Dismounting, the three siblings entered the castle next to each other, a place they had called home for a long time, a place that was now full of enemies.

A group of ten soldiers awaited them. One of them, a man with dark brown hair and a moustache, stepped forward.

"I want to talk to the Tisroc!" Peter demanded.

"Of course, your Majesty," the man with the moustache said, "but at first I have to ask you to hand over your weapons. The Tisroc, may he live forever, promises you safe conduct within this castle."

Peter looked at his siblings and nodded. The three siblings started to unarm, swords, daggers, a bow and arrows falling to the ground.

Two Calormen soldiers stepped forward and gathered the weapons quickly, then the dark haired men guided them into the castle, "Follow me, please!"

As they walked through the hallways Peter counted every Calormen soldier he caught sight of and he swore silently. How blind had they been not to see the intrigue that had been behind the battle at the How?

When they entered the great hall, Peter heard a familiar voice calling his name.

"Peter!" Lucy broke free from the soldier that had been holding her and ran towards her siblings, falling into the arms of her brother. The soldier ran after her but the man that was sitting on Peter's throne signalled him to let it go.

"Lucy! Are you okay?" Peter asked as he hugged his sister, relieved to see her.

Lucy nodded as she pulled away, looking at Edmund, "I am sorry, Ed. I rode off again."

"It's okay, Lu. The important thing is that you are fine." Edmund said, blaming himself not to listen to the concerns that she had told him before the battle.

In the meanwhile the man that had sat on Peter's throne had stood up and had stepped down to where they stood. He had short dark hair and a three-day beard. He was tall, rather muscular and looked kind of intimidating.

"High King Peter, the Magnificent, it's a pleasure meeting you" he said, bowing towards Peter, then he faced Edmund, "King Edmund, the Just, we have already had the pleasure of meeting each other. So you left Anvard. Didn't you like my hospitality there?"

"Well despite my love for dungeons and lattice in front of my window, I didn't want to tax your hospitality for too long." Edmund answered in a calm voice.

The Tisroc laughed, "I see, I see."

He stepped towards Susan, taking her hand, "Queen Susan the Gentle, the stories about your beauty really aren't exaggerated." He bowed low and kissed her hand.

"May I introduce myself? I am Ahstad, the Tisroc, emperor of Calormen. Well I think I could add emperor of Archenland and Narnia as well." He laughed sardonically.

"I wouldn't be that hasty!" Peter warned with his voice full of anger.

"Well of course there are things to discuss before I do so," Ashtad turned to the man with the moustache that had guided the three eldest Pevensies to the great Hall and commanded, "Please guide the Queens to their quarters, I have things to discuss with these gentlemen here."

Peter stepped in front of his sisters, opening his mouth to disagree but before he could say anything, Susan laid a hand on Peter's shoulder and shook her head, "It's okay, Peter."

Taking Lucy's hand, she followed the man out of the room.

"Well the queen seems not only to be the most beautiful woman I've ever seen but even a smart one," the Tisroc said, looking after her, "She will make a wonderful bride."

"I beg your pardon?" Peter couldn't believe what he had just heard.

"Well I intend to be the greatest Tisroc of all time," Ashtad started to explain, "Thus I have made it my business to achieve all the things my ancestors have failed to do. One was to conquer Archenland and Narnia. Another was to marry Queen Susan the Gentle of Narnia. You remember my ancestor Rabadash, don't you?"

"Oh yeah, he was a cute little donkey!" Edmund countered, trying to hide his anger about Ashtad's words with a joke.

"What makes you think that we or Queen Susan would agree to something like that?" Peter asked, ignoring Edmund's comment. His voice was calmer than before, trying not to show his feelings, as he had learned hundreds of years ago.

"Well you are kings and queens and as such your first responsibility is to your people. So I want all of you to abdicate the throne in favor of me and to agree to my marriage to Queen Susan. In exchange you and your people will be free, under the Calormen leadership of course. Otherwise five of your people will be hung in the courtyard every hour until you agree to my terms." The Tisroc laughed again sardonically.

Peter looked at the Tisroc shocked. A month ago he would have thought that he would never let anyone of his family down. There wasn't anybody or anything in the whole world that meant more to him than his siblings. But two weeks ago he had failed his older brother by leaving him behind. He had decided as a king, not as a brother. And as a king there was only one right answer, but as a brother the choice was different, more difficult and more complex.

"Well, you have an hour to think about it." The Tisroc said as both of the brothers didn't answer, "General, please accompany them to their quarters. I hope you'll find it more comfortable this time, King Edmund!"

The Tisroc turned, walking towards Peter's throne but stopped when Edmund rose to speak once more.

"You are mistaken, my lord." The Tisroc turned to face Edmund, surprised by his words. Peter looked surprised at his younger brother as well.

"Firstly, Caspian is the current king of Narnia, so it's only in his power to abdicate the crown in favor of you," Edmund continued in a calm voice, "and secondly our first responsibility has always been and will always be our family!"

The Tisroc smirked, "Was your family also your first responsibility when you betrayed them to the White Witch thirteen hundred years ago?"

"That's a mistake I don't intend to make twice!"

"Then tell me, my dear kings of Narnia, what would you do if you had to choose between the happiness of one sister and the life of the other?"

As Edmund's and Peter's faces grew pale, the Tisroc laughed again, "Did you know that the quickest way of ending a war is to lose it?"

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_**Well what do you think? As always I would like to hear your opinions - especially about the Tisroc! ...**_

_**Thanks again to those who reviewed so far - I love every single one of your reviews ... **_


	19. Chapter 19: A Call for Forgiveness

_**Are there any excuses for not writing or publishing for nearly five months? I guess there are not ... I am really sorry for it! On the one hand I hadn't had the time to write and on the other it seemed like I didn't have any more words in me .. lame excuses I know but it's the truth! **_

**_I don't know if you guys are still interested in the story but I hate unfinished things - so I decided to work on it once more! Don't know if this chapter is any good - so tell me!_**

**_PS: It isn't even beta-read - so there will be quite a few mistakes (I haven't written English for quite a long time! :S) _**

**_PPS: If you still want to read it after all the nonsense I have written so far - enjoy reading ;) ...  
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Susan and Lucy had been brought to one of the bedrooms in the west wing of the castle. Two dresses of their own closets were lying on the bed and they had access to a small bathroom to freshen themselves up.

Lucy was just cleaning a wound which Susan had contracted in the heat of the battle, when the door opened quietly and a person that they knew quite well sneaked into the room.

"Cora!" Lucy jumped up and ran into her friend's arms, "I knew you would not abandon us."

"How did you get in here without them noticing? There are guards all around..." Susan stopped, surprised when she noticed the dress out of fine green silk Cora was wearing, "You did not sneak in, did you? They know you are here, you are here with them..."

Lucy stepped back shocked, "You are not on their side, are you?

The princess looked at the sisters with pleading eyes full of guilt, "It is not like you think it is..."

"Then explain it to us!" Susan spoke in a sharp voice.

"I am not on their side," Cora defended herself, "it is just that my brother is with them and I cannot abandon him. I know that there is something good in him. He is not a bad person, he's just making bad decisions and I cannot give him up. I just can't..."

When Susan noticed Cora's moral dilemma, her voice got calmer, "Cora, this is not about the decisions your brother is making, this is about you and your decisions. Being royal means to put aside your own interests for the benefit of others, even if it means hurting somebody you love. You have to think of the people from Archenland and Narnia, of all the brave soldiers that already died fighting for freedom, of all the people that can't defend themselves. You have to think of your father. Think of Peter..."

"I am ... I am thinking of all of them..." the young woman looked to the ground, "...and I am here to help you. I'll help you to get out of here. I'll distract the guards. There are horses waiting at the back door, so that you can escape... "

"No!" Susan interrupted her, "We are not going to run away!"

"But that's your only chance!" Cora's voice sounded desperate, "The Tisroc's army defeated nearly all of your men, you can't defend yourselves against him. Your only chance is to hide..."

"No, you are our only chance, Cora!" Susan disagreed, "Our future lies in your hands. It's your choice. Either you stand by and watch people suffering or you help us..."

For a moment there was silence, the three women just staring at each other. As Cora didn't answer, Lucy rose to speak, "You have to go to Caspian and explain the situation to him. Tell him to prepare for battle and then..." she took a deep breath, "then you have to find Aslan. He will help us. He will know what we have to do."

"How am I supposed to find Him? I've never seen Him or spoken to Him..."

"Aslan will always answer to those who need His help" Lucy explained, "You just have to believe that you will find Him. Trust your own instincts. You have to have faith in Him... and in yourself."

Susan held out her horn towards Cora, "Here take it with you and tell Eustace that the future belongs to freedom."

Cora took the horn, looking confused, "Who is Eustace?"

"He's with Caspian. If you tell him that, they will trust you."

"Can't one of you go to him for help?" Cora asked, still not knowing what to do, even though she knew there was only one right choice.

Susan shook her head, "No, our place is here, here with Edmund and Peter, here with our people. Their fate will be ours..."

"But isn't my place with my people too?"

"Yes, it is, but the question is who these people are and what's best for them. And that's for you to decide!"

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"Last time I was imprisoned I got at least something to eat!" Edmund shouted after the guards who had just escorted them to their cell but they just went on laughing.

"We need to get out of here!" Peter shouted, shaking the cell doors angrily.

"Stop making all that noise, Pete! You know we won't get out of these cells on our own." Edmund laid one hand on his brother's shoulder to stop him.

"But we can't sit around and do nothing!" Peter objected.

"Caspian will get us out of here, we just have to wait a little bit..."

"I hate this!" Peter said, shaking the cell doors one more time to show his anger, "all of this! I wish Aslan would have never sent us back..." He sank to the ground.

"You don't mean that," Edmund sat down next to his brother on the ground, "Narnia is your home, Narnia is our home."

Peter shook his head, "No, it isn't, not anymore. When I returned, I thought a dream had come true, but the dream developed into a nightmare... I had to make choices, more difficult ones than I have ever made before, choices that weren't mine to make..." he looked up at his younger brother, "I am sorry, Ed! I am sorry for leaving you behind, I shouldn't have done that. I am so sorry..."

"Don't be. You didn't have any other choice."

"Everything we do is a choice..."

Edmund looked at his brother and thought for a moment, "You are right. But sometimes there really is only one right answer ... and you made the right choice, not only as a king but also as a brother. I would have never forgiven you if you had abandoned Narnia, just as you would have never forgiven yourself..."

"How can I forgive myself for letting you down?"

"You will not. Just as I will never forgive myself that I betrayed you to the white witch all those years ago. But you will learn to live with it..." Edmund took a deep breath, remembering how hard it had been for himself, "Every one of us has made a choice he is not proud of. This single choice does not make you a bad person, it makes you human..."

There was silence for a short moment, Peter looking at his brother thankfully.

"Thanks, Ed."

"You are welcome... oh and if it helps, I would have left you behind as well." Edmund said grinning.

"Me too!" the brothers suddenly heard a voice behind them.

* * *

Lucy strode through the room impatiently, "More than an hour has passed. Cora should already be with Caspian, should she not?"

"We do not even know if she decided to help us." Susan pointed out.

Suddenly the door opened and two guards entered the room.

"The Tisroc, may he live forever, requests your presence in the courtyard, your Majesties."

The guards guided them trough the castle to a small balcony, where the Tisroc was already awaiting them.

"Finally, our guests of honour have arrived." The Tisroc guided Susan to the edge of the balcony, from where she could overlook the courtyard.

Susan was shocked when she caught sight of gallows in the middle of the courtyard, something she has not seen there in all her life. Five men were standing next to the gallows, their hands tied behind their backs. Narnians, mostly women and children had gathered around the gallows. Some of them were trying to come by the guards that were holding them back to help the convicts.

"These men are charged with high treason and have been sentenced to death," the Tisroc started to explain, "but you, my dearest Queen Susan, have the power of saving them. Accept my hand and their lives will be spared!"

The monarch offered her his hand. Susan had to swallow hard on his words, knowing that the only thing she could do right now was accepting his hand, hoping that Caspian would get her out of here. But, before she could take and accept his hand, an arrow flew through the air, hitting the Tisroc on his forearm, which caused him to back off.

"I am sorry, but this woman is already taken!" Caspian seemed to appear from nowhere with a crossbow in his hands, shooting guards that attacked him.

Next to him Peter emerged from the crowd, overpowering one of the guards to free the convicts. Susan caught sight of about twenty other Narnians including Eustace and Trumpkin down in the courtyard.

When Susan turned back, Edmund was already standing behind the Tisroc, his sword at the monarch's throat.

"I am sorry but I prefer Caspian as my brother in law," Edmund said smiling at Susan, "Now would you please tell your guards to drop their weapons?"

"It is you who should drop your weapon if you want your sister to live!" Prince Cain was standing next to Edmund with his sword at Lucy's throat.

"Do not hurt her!" Edmund said, while dropping his sword.

Then all of a sudden another arrow of Caspian hit Prince Cain at his left shoulder. He cried out in pain, relinquishing his grip so that Lucy could break free. Susan took Lucy's arm, pushing her towards the doorway while Edmund quickly picked up his sword again and stepped in front of his sisters to shield them, but they were surrounded by guards within seconds.

The Tisroc laughed, "Once more you did not appreciate my hospitality, King Edmund? Well I will make sure that that will not happen again." He nodded to Prince Cain, who ran down the stairs that lead from the balcony to the courtyard. Suddenly Susan heard bells and about two hundred guards emerged from the buildings in the courtyard.

"King Caspian! You and your men are outnumbered. Give up and your lives will be spared! Fight and you will die!"

Caspian looked towards Peter, who shook his head. This was a fight they couldn't win, at least not on their own.

And as if Aslan had heard their silent prayers, there was a loud noise, that sounded like a bugle but richer.

It was a sound Peter had heard quite often in his life, but this time its purpose was different. It was an answer, an answer to many questions, an answer that would change Peter's life entirely and it was a call, a call for forgiveness.

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_**I would really love you guys for every single review that** **you give me! Should I continue? **_


	20. Chapter 20: Redemption

**_Once again I am starting with an apology - I am really sorry for not updating for so long even though I promised it wouldn't be that long! I won't give you any lame excuses because this wouldn't change the time that has gone by - I only hope that you like this chapter! _**

**_Thanks to everyone who reviewed on the last chapter - you guys are the reason I am continueing - I just want you to know that and this chapter is dedicated to all of you - you are the most awesome people in the whole world (I hope you will all get a boyfriend like Caspian xD) - enjoy reading! _**

**_ps: I am sorry but it's not beta-read again - hope that there aren't too many mistakes! _****  
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Cora remembered the conversation she had had with Peter at the exact same spot as she rode along the way towards the forest. They had talked about her brother and she had told him a lie, another lie. She remembered the ache she had felt in her heart when she had lied to his face. She remembered the pity she had seen in his eyes and the sympathy. And then she remembered the expression on his face when he had found out who she was and what she had done.

But now that she thought about it she had not lied to him. At least not the time he had asked her about her brother. The brother she knew was dead, he died loosing the fight against evil, he died failing to protect himself from the Calormen. The Calormen had taken his life from her. And she wouldn't rest until she had managed what he had failed to do.

The only question was how she could do that without letting anybody down. She thought of Lucy's words, "You have to find Aslan... He will know what we have to do... Trust your instincts... have faith in Him and in yourself!" Cora racked her brains over the meaning of them when Susan's words came into her mind, "Our place is here ... here with our people."

And all of a sudden she knew what she had to do.

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The soldiers from Archenland were recovering. There was a bad mood in their camp. Their spirits were down. They had just fought in a war most of them did not agree with. They had lost many lives of brave soldiers who had not been supposed to die and many of those who had survived had been wounded quite severely.

The soldiers from Archenland were recovering from a war that had not been supposed to be theirs, a war that had been forced on them. And as they were treating their wounds, burying the bodies of the dead and commemorating their fallen followers, a heroine appeared at their camp, a heroine that offered them redemption.

She rode in on a white horse gaining everyone's attention immediately.

"People of Archenland, I have come here today to offer you a chance to make up for what you did today!" Cora shouted as the soldiers were gathering around her, "My brother, Prince Cain, guided you into this war, a war that was never supposed to happen and now every single one of us has blood on his hands! This day can go down as the day that Archenland was guided by greed and ignorance and did Narnia wrong... or it can make history as the day when the people of Archenland stood up against the force of evil! It can go down as the day when the people of Archenland fought for freedom, not only for their own but for the freedom of their followers, friends and families!"

Cora unsheathed her sword and looked into the eyes of her people, "People of Archenland, I offer you redemption! What do you say?"

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"That is Cora!" Lucy shouted with a smile on her face. Cain stopped surprised when he heard his sister's name and looked back up at the balcony. The guard next to Susan was distracted for one moment too, so Susan took the opportunity to grab the dagger Edmund carried in his right boot and stabbed him. The way to the stairs was now free and Susan grabbed her younger sister's arm and dragged her towards them.

"Peter! You need to open the gates!" Susan screamed as she ran down the stairs.

Peter exchanged a glance with Caspian, "You go and get them! I will take care of the gate!" Caspian nodded and started to fight his way through to Susan and Lucy, with Eustace and Trumpkin at his side.

Just as Peter wanted to blaze a trail through the crowd, Glenstorm appeared next to him, offering Peter a hand to help him up onto his back and the young king took the offer thankfully.

Cain watched Peter riding on Glenstorm through the crowd. Most soldiers backed off, afraid of the centaur's hooves.

"Do not let them get to the gate!" the prince from Archenland screamed, running after the centaur, but it was already too late.

The high king and his companion had already reached the gate, enabling more than a hundred soldiers from Archenland to ride into the courtyard.

The young prince watched as his own men, the people he had trained with for years, the people he had fought side on side with, went into battle against him instead of at his side. And what hurt the most was the sight of the person who was leading them. It was the one person that had always had his back, the one person that he thought would never abandon him, the one person he trusted most in this world and the one person that had never betrayed his trust up until this moment. And as she rode past him, their eyes met and it was as if he was looking into a mirror when he looked into her green eyes filled with guilt.

After a moment of hesitation he turned towards Peter, the man who was the reason for his sister's betrayal.

"So you are the king who has been tricked by my sister?" Prince Cain asked ridiculing, pointing his blade towards the High King.

Peter kept a straight face, "And you are the prince who has been betrayed by his own sister?"

"At least I have not left one of my siblings to die!"

That's the straw that broke the camel's back. They met with a clash of steel, the prince and the king.

Meanwhile Caspian, Eustace and Trumpkin had reached the queens of Narnia, who had managed to get hold of a sword. But Susan's sword fighting skills were far behind her archery ones and one of the Calormen soldiers had wounded her badly at her chest.

Blood was streaming from her wound and the queen was barely able to stay at her feet even with Caspian supporting her.

"We need your cordial, Lucy! Where is it?" Caspian nearly shouted at the young queen, worried about Susan.

"It is in the room Susan and I had been held captive in. I will go and get it!"

"It is okay. The wound is not that bad," Susan tried to hold her off, the weakness reflecting in her voice, "I can go on fighting..."

"No, you can't!" Eustace took control of the situation, "I'll go with Susan, Lucy and Caspian to get the cordial, we'll need it afterwards anyway. Trumpkin, go and help Edmund!"

Caspian nodded, picked up Susan, who was too weak to object and followed Eustace and Lucy towards a door leading into the castle, while Trumpkin fought his way towards Edmund.

In the meantime the High King and the Prince from Archenland were still venting their anger, both of them trying to hurt the man, who they held responsible for their misery.

It was a clash of titans. Both of them two of the best swordsmen Narnia had ever seen and there was only one person in the whole universe that had ever beaten them.

But the young prince from Archenland had one advantage over Peter. He had the one force by which Peter was irritated the most in this world, his dark green eyes. And when their glance met in the heat of the battle, his heart began racing and his head began spinning. And in this moment the prince, who had learned all his life to seize such a chance to unarm his opponent managed to do something not many had done before.

He divided the High King from his sword. And now Peter was standing in front of him, unarmed, vulnerable.

Peter raised his hands to surrender, "Do you really want to kill me? There is still time to surrender, to undo your mistakes, to find redemption."

The prince of Archenland hesitated just for a moment thinking of his sister, giving Peter the opportunity to recover from the shock of losing his sword, so that he was able to escape the prince's following blow, sending him to the ground.

Peter quickly picked up his sword, "That was the wrong call!"

"You think?" Cain quickly turned around, fetching a dagger from under his coat and stabbed it into the High King's leg, who cried out in pain.

"That is not fair!" Peter yelled.

"All is fair in love and war!" Cain replied, aiming again with his dagger, this time at Peter's heart. But Peter got hold of the arm, before the dagger reached his body and twisted it behind his back.

However, the prince from Archenland was able to free himself from Peter's grip and attacked him with his sword again. The first and the second blow Peter could counter, but then his feet gave way and he fell onto his knees slowly.

Cain was standing in front of Peter with his sword pointing at Peter's chest. The High King was at the prince's mercy. But the young prince was clearly hesitating to make the last blow.

Peter, still kneeling in front of his enemy, noticed the uncertainness and the fear in his eyes, "I know you do not want to do this! There is still time to turn around... think of your father and your sister!" He tried to stand up but his feet just didn't obey.

The prince looked around, searching for his sister but he couldn't find her. He looked back at Peter, "I will not lose her as well.. I just cannot ..."

The insecurity had vanished from his eyes, leaving anger. "You will not take her from me!" the young prince screamed, striking out with his sword, to end it.

Then all of a sudden there was a loud cry, "Peter! No!" and a third person approached them, and when he realized who this person was, Peter felt his heart stop beating, he heard the silver blade knocking against flesh and he felt his body covering with blood, with loads of blood.

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_**OMG another cliffhanger - I know I am really evil but it seems like I just can't get rid of them - I hope that you will forgive and that the next chapter will be on sooner than this one! However, slowly but surely this story is coming to an end - I guess there will be about two more chapters and I don't know if I have the muse to write another Suspian story but I will try! Afterall I really enjoyed writing this and I hope that you enjoyed reading it! **_

_**So what do you think about the chapter? As always I would like to hear your thoughts about it!**_

_**Once more thanks to everyone who reviewed - everytime I got a review my heart just jumped and I just want you to know how much they mean to me even though I haven't replied lately and even though you had to wait that long for the next chapter! Love you guys!  
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